


Behind the Spotlight

by Gummie88



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Humanstuck, M/M, Theater AU, highschool
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-06-11
Updated: 2014-01-08
Packaged: 2017-12-14 14:56:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 29,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/838167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gummie88/pseuds/Gummie88
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sollux's senior year is drawing to a close, and he has only one more musical left to work with the Stage Crew.</p>
<p>Though working backstage turns out to be a lot more dramatic than he would have ever thought, resulting in new relationships and learning about new people that come into his life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Beginning to an AU I've been working on for awhile now. Based off my own personal experiences while working for my schools Stage Crew, and thought it would be fun and interesting to write a fic based off of it~  
> The rating will change eventually, along with the amount of characters and new relationships will come up also. First chapter is really just an introduction filled with a lot of character descriptions (that are necessary, trust me).

Your name is Sollux Captor, and you're slowly losing every ounce of patience in your body. 

"Next." You declare, watching the person who was standing in front of you stride away. 

A relatively short and stocky girl bounds up to take their place. She looks at you expectantly, smiling as her light eyes brighten behind her pink rimmed glasses. "Hi Sollux!" She chirps. 

You only grunt in response, not really in the mood to return her bubbly and carefree attitude. Though honestly you're never in the mood. You reach out beside you, picking up the next microphone to put on. The girl doesn't seem to like your response. She crosses her arms, puffing out her cheeks when you try to tape the mic to her face. 

"Wow, that wasn't a very friendly greeting." She states before her glossed lips pull into a straight line, completing the body language of a childish pout. 

You sigh, a bit frustrated as your heterochromiac eyes look over your thin wired glasses, meeting hers with a stern expression on your face, "Sorry FF, this job just kind of sucks. Well, not kind of, it does suck. I don't even know why I was put in charge of microphones, it's not my job." You explain to Feferi as your lisp heavily affects your speech. Thankfully she seems to understand, unpuffing her cheeks and dropping her arms so that her metal bracelets clink together. You're finally able to use the tape, applying it gently and adjust the microphone so it's angled towards her mouth properly. 

"But aren't you one of the only people qualified?" She questions with interest. 

You roll your eyes, "Even the most idiotic person can do this, it's just that everyone's too fucking lazy to show anyone."

FF giggles, fiddling with the pink sea shell necklace that dangles around her neck, "Well I don't see YOU teaching anyone, Mr. Grumpy Gills."

Your retort dies in your throat. Fuck, she's right. You manage to mumble a really lame 'whatever' before going quiet again, running the wire down the back of her fuchsia pink tank top to plug into the battery pack attached to her hip. 

The short girl seems satisfied she silenced you, "Though I honestly believe the whole technical aspect of the musical would be a disaster without you! And that's the honest truth."

You give her a skeptical glance before backing away, "Uh, yeah, I guess. You're done by the way." 

"Oh, alright!" She adjust the microphone again, being careful to not loosen the tape securing it. "Thanks for the help, I'll see you after rehearsals!" She gives another happy smile, skipping off towards the stage so her long and wavy hair flows behind her gracefully, along with the skirt she wears. 

Mumbling a quick goodbye, you prepare to grab the next microphone and battery pack, only to note it feels a lot lighter than it should. Dammit, it needs more batteries. Of course. As another male steps forward, you hold up a finger to signal they have to wait a bit longer. You don't miss the way they groan and cross their arms with impatience. You make your way across the auditorium, taking a moment to reflect on your shitty day so far. As FF mentioned, you are working the schools musical this year, like you have been for the last three years. You're a senior in high school, and you can not wait to get this over with and graduate. You're a member of the schools Stage Crew. For the lack of a better term, you are all referred to as the "techies". Sometimes that title gets thrown around so much it could be a racial slur or some sort. 

There's really not a lot to be said about the techies. You're all literally a bunch of obnoxious teenagers with nothing better than to do than lurk in the darkness of backstage. Fucking around is a talent you all seem to share. Though when it comes to doing actual work (like when you have to move things on stage and rehearse lighting and sound cues) it's like pulling teeth to get you all up off your lazy asses. Everyone always starts complaining when the musicals start up, but deep down you all know it's bullshit. Even after the final bell dismisses your freedom, everyone stays afterwards, usually with their arms full of electronics (laptops, phones, iPods, other gaming devices) and food to hold you over until rehearsals start at 6:30. Many people question why you all just don't go home and come back later, but they don't understand. Nothing is more fun than being an irresponsible teenager left alone in an empty school after hours. You trade homework with others you're in the same classes with, maybe argue for awhile, then play games on computers or gaming systems. 

Then once rehearsals start, you're bossed around by stressed directors and bratty actors until you're finally allowed home to crash around 11. Surprisingly, even if you have to get up and do it every day for almost two months, you all look forward to it. 

Though it's not all fun. Sometimes being here pisses you off to no end, which is why you're losing your patience (and sanity) today. Though all the techies are pretty tolerable, the actors seem to get more and more difficult every year. Complaining and whining is their specialty. 'The techie didn't move the prop! The techie didn't fix my microphone! The techie was in my way!' You've heard every single excuse that manages to come out of their mouth. Though the worst part is the directors believe them. So anyone who's an actor is categorized as "asshole" by the techies, though there are very few exceptions, such as Feferi. She's one of the only ones who will treat you with respect and thank you for the work you all do. Sometimes you would really wish you could see the actors do your job, then see how much they would be complaining afterwards. 

You're pulled out of your thoughts when you make your way across the auditorium (which actually takes awhile, the whole place is a pretty impressive size for a high school) and approach the boy sitting behind the sound booth. He has his feet propped up on a chair close to him, which you think is pretty funny because it shows just how short he is. He writes vigorously on a piece of paper that's attached to a clipboard, resting on his thighs. His dark and messy hair flops into his face, almost covering his eyes and you briefly wonder if he can even see what he's writing. He wears his usual gray sweatpants and black turtle neck with a pair of worn out sneakers. 

"Hey KK." You call out to him once you're close enough.

The boy in question, Karkat, snaps his head up in your direction, "What do you want?"

"I need some new batteries for the mic packs."

His thick eyebrows furrow together in confusion, "Really? But I thought Dave said they were all charged the last time he checked?" 

You have no fucking clue, so you shrug your shoulders innocently, "Well he lied." 

"That asshole." He grumbles angrily, removing his feet from the chair and kicking it away from him. He reaches under the booth to rifle through some boxes. 

You couldn't agree more with that statement. Dave Strider is a handful. He's the one who works soundboard and anything that relates back to sound in general, such as microphones. Though he still hasn't shown up yet and now you're stuck doing his shitty job. He probably won't even show up at all, maybe at the last minute if you're all lucky. You remember once when you had to work both light and soundboard at once in his absence. The entire thing was a disaster and Karkat almost lost his voice by yelling at you through the headset. 

The memory causes a shudder to run down your spine.

After the short boy concluded his frantic searching, he finally produces a pack of fresh batteries that he quickly hands off to you. "There. Now hurry, mic checks start in ten minutes and if we're not ready then the directors gonna be pissed at me." Karkat scolds you, once again picking up his clipboard and pencil. 

"If Dave decides to show up within that time." You grumble. 

The boys rust brown eyes glance up at you. "I know, he's such a lazy ass sometimes." 

"Yeah, I would know, I'm the one doing his job. Can't you help me or something? You're qualified for mics too." You almost plead. 

"Can't, I have to finish writing down lighting cues." 

This draws a confused look from you, "But I already have my lighting cues." 

Karkat freezes, "... Shit, I forgot to tell you."

"Tell me what?"

"You're not working light board this year."

You let this sink in, silencing you for a few brief seconds, "What do you mean I'm not working light board this year...?! I have been every since I was a Freshman!" You clench your fists at your sides in frustration. 

"Exactly, Sollux! We need someone to train and work it instead, since we're graduating this year. I want to be sure he's learning properly than one of the teachers doing it." The boy explains, but you have a feeling there's something else behind it. 

"... Is that really the only reason?"

"Of course it is! Now go finish putting on the actors mics." He snarled at you. 

"No, I'm not going anywhere until you tell me the real reason." 

He opens and closes his mouth a couple times, looking as if he was going to yell at you but changes his mind at the last second, "Fine. There's this sophomore who's good friends with Dave, and he asked me if he could work lights." The short boy stated, and you swear you see his tan complexion turn a couple shades darker.

The gears slowly start turning in your head, "Wait," You put up a hand for emphasis, "Are we talking about that dorky guy? Jim, or something?"

"John, dipshit," Karkat quickly defends, "and maybe it is. It doesn't matter to you anyway. You always complain about how you have to listen to Dave so I thought I was going to do you a favor. You could be a little more appreciative, shitstain." 

"What will I do now?" 

"Work backstage with everyone else. Anything else I need to spell out for you?" 

You groan, though your argument gets cut off when you hear the director call out Karkats name. He immediately perks up and scowls, putting down his clipboard and flipping you off before walking away. Your shoulders slump forward in a defeated gesture, bummed about not getting your work done for you AND being relocated to backstage. You drag your feet back to the waiting actors, batteries clutched in your hand. The worst part is that you can't argue with Karkat. Whatever he says goes. Out of all the techies, Karkat has the most authority, being titled stage manager when he was only a sophomore. The directors must have seen that he was the most dedicated to theater out of all of you, and this actually makes you feel bad for him sometimes. At first his ego shot up through the roof and bossed you all around like it was his job... well, it kind of is his job, but whatever. He had been so excited that he actually had authority to yell at people. Although soon enough the responsibility slowly but surely drug him down until he became constantly stressed. All of his classes along with organizing the technical aspects of the musicals just seemed like too much for him. He's always grumpier than usual, though it really pisses you off when people treat him like shit. If they knew what he did they'd be a lot more respectful. 

Upon returning to the actors, you are greeted with snide comments and sarcastic remarks regarding how long you took. You keep Karkats action in mind and simply flip them off while you place the new batteries in the packs. 

"Alright, who's next?" You ask and look up towards them.

Though the pack almost tumbles out of your hand when you see just who exactly is next.

Eridan Ampora.

Eridan fucking Ampora. 

At your blank and disgusted expression, his nose scrunches up as he adjusts his thick rimmed glasses up higher on his face, "That's not necessarily the type of reaction I thought I was gonna get." He states. 

You narrow your eyes at him, giving him a quick look up and down to take in his appearance. He has a pair of gray shoes on, along with purple skinny jeans that hug his legs way too tightly for your taste. How do things even circulate down there? Wow, okay, going away from that train of thought. He wears a simple gray T-shirt and a purple scarf that's wrapped loosely around his neck. His facial features are very strong and distinct. He has brown hair that's slicked out of his face (he probably uses a shit load of hair gel) and there's a very vibrant purple streak in his bangs. His whole appearance screams tool. 

Finally you look back at his face, "Sorry I'm not jumping for joy," You retort, "what are you even doing here?" 

"I thought it was obvious. I got the lead this year." He states proudly. 

"I think you blackmailed someone into giving you the part. Who was it?" 

"No one, you just have no respect for my talents." 

With that, you both glare at each other intensely for a few seconds. You really don't even want to be near this idiot, but you hear the director call out mic checks start in five minutes. You heave a heavy and dramatic sigh, reaching up to hook the microphone piece behind his ear. Though when you reach up to tape it to his cheek, he flinches away as if you're some sort of peasant touching his royal figure. 

"Stand still." You snap at him.

"Why are you touchin' me so much? Is this all really necessary?" 

"Yes, it is! Quit being a prick and let me do this!" You glare into his bright blue eyes. He mumbles something incoherent under his breath before shifting closer so you can resume your work. 

"You're an asshole." You mutter, applying the tape rougher than necessary. 

"You're the one who's gettin' way too close for comfort." 

You don't say anything else. Your slight height advantage (only by a couple inches) makes it easy for you to slip the wire down the back of his shirt. You struggle with it for a couple seconds trying to push it all the way to the bottom. It won't budge. 

"Can you lift your shirt up for a second?"

"Now you're tryin' to strip me?"

You sputter, "N-No! I need to grab the wire...!"

Eridan's face breaks out into an amused grin, opening and closing his mouth a couple times as if he's about to say something. But instead nothing comes, making him look like an overly happy fish. Instead he just snickered and brought his hands to the hem of his shirt, causing the many rings on each of his fingers to clink together as he raised up his shirt. You pull your bottom lip between your teeth, gnawing on it gently as you reach up and grab the wire, your fingers brushing against the smooth skin of his exposed back. Quickly clipping the pack to the hem of his jeans, you plug it in and turn it on before back away a step. 

"Th-There, you're done." What the fuck, did you just stutter?

Eridan seems satisfied as he pulls his shirt back down to cover the pack, "Thanks, Sol. I'll see you after rehearsals so you can get it off for me." He gives you a cocky smirk.

"I have better things to do than be seen with you."

He laughs at the comeback, smirk turning into a grin to show off his perfectly straight white teeth. "You say that, but I don't think you mean it." 

With that, he walks off towards the stage, grin still splitting his face. 

\--

Not long after those scarring events, you sit in the cafeteria surrounded by the rest of the techies (except for John and Dave since they're still in the auditorium for sound and light checks). When all of you finally got together, there was a lot of greeting and excitement. Though you don't really get it because it's March and you've all been going to school together since August. Karkat managed a brief break from the chaos on stage, announcing a Stage Crew meeting in the cafeteria. Once you had all gathered together, he had to run off to somewhere else. You don't even try to keep track of him anymore. The result is everyone crowded around one of the circular tables by the wall, talking loudly and joking around while waiting for Karkats return. 

"Hello Sollux."

The sound of a sweet and familiar voice calling your name tears you away from your thoughts, and you glance over towards the source. Aradia Megido stood there, playing with a strand of her long and curly brown hair that frames her round face, painted red lips smiling. She takes a chair next to you and sits down, smoothing out her long gray skirt that has rips on the end. Probably from her walks in the woods and digging in the ground for artifacts. She has a black long-sleeved shirt with a dark red skull in the middle that hugs her slightly chubby frame nicely. 

"Hey AA." You greet back after she gets comfortable in her seat. 

Her smile widens and she looks at you with dark brown eyes, "How are you? Are you excited to be around everyone again?" She questions, motioning to the others who are currently arguing over the rules of some dumb card game. 

Your face scrunches up a bit in displeasure, "I guess so. It just seems like every year they just get louder." 

She covers her mouth with her hand to stifle a giggle, where you can see her that her nails are painted the same shade of red as the design on her shirt, "I think you say that every year." 

You shrug. 

"I think you just get frustrated after working with the actors." She observes. 

"That's part of it. Did you know Eridan is the lead this year? He's just awful."

"Wow, really? I've actually heard from a few people that he's really not that bad, and actually talented."

You scoff, "Oh really, where did you hear that from?"

"Feferi." She states. 

"... Oh... How would she know that?" 

"They dated once, you know. They broke up a few months ago though." 

Feferi and Eridan dated...? Now that you think about it, you do remember a few people talking about that. You're actually a curious on why they broke up, but don't bother to ask about it. Or about how Aradia knows all of this. "But still, are you seriously trying to defend him? He's a major douche." 

"You should learn to tolerate him now, Sollux." She assured you in a serious tone, jokingly putting a hand on your shoulder before giggling again. 

"Hey Sollux, you think YOU have trouble with the actors?" A loud voice butts into your conversation. Aradia takes her hand away, looking towards the girl curiously. You raise an eyebrow at her also. 

Vriska Sekret smirks towards you, and you notice her strange fang-like teeth before she continues, "Come on, you don't even work backstage. That's where they're the WORST. Pushing and shoving, playing with props, yet none of them seem to understand when something gets fucked up." She explains, satisfied at how she countered your complaints. 

"For your information, I actually got moved to the backstage this year. So I'm pretty sure I'll have an idea of what it's like." You state. 

"Woah you got kicked off light board? What did ya do? What did ya break?" Vriska asks, curious. 

By this point everyone had halted their previous conversations, looking at the two of you with interest. 

"I didn't get kicked off light board. KK just replaced me with some dorky sophomore named John." 

Your fellow senior laughed with amusement, leaning back to put her feet up on the table, showing off a pair of red converse and ripped jeans that covered her long legs. She wore a black T-shirt with some band (that you've never heard of) on the front of it. "If I were you, I wouldn't throw around the insult 'dorky' so much, especially if it's coming from you, Mr. Computer Nerd." 

"Nerds and dorks are completely different things." 

"Mm..." Vriska looked thoughtful for a second, blowing a bubble with her gum. It pops and sticks to the blue lipstick she has on. Though she doesn't seem to mind as she just starts chewing again. Gross. "Nope, pretty sure they have the same concept." She concludes, tucking one of the many blue streaks of hair behind her ear, then brushing her swooped bangs out of her eyes so they fall over the top of her glasses. You scowl in her direction for a second longer, watching as he puts on her jacket with spider web designs on the front and down the sleeves. 

You feel a light tap on your should and you turn your attention back to Aradia. 

"I'm going to get a soda. Would you like me to get anything for you?" She asks sweetly. 

Honestly, you could go for a soda right now, but you politely decline with a shake of your head. You don't have any money on you right now anyway. "No thanks, maybe later though." 

"Okay, just let me know." She then gets up from her chair, once again smoothing out her skirt before walking off towards the vending machines. 

As you watch after her, you can feel your cheeks heat up a little. You have some... feelings for Aradia you haven't necessarily gotten over yet. But for now you're content and happy like this, even if the status between you two remains just friends. You really are lucky to have a friend like her, anyway. You distract yourself by scoping out all the others, silently observing them as they continue their previous conversations. You turn your attention to the four Juniors across the table, Dirk Strider, Jake English, Jane Crocker, and Roxy Lalonde. 

The blond, Dirk, is the older brother of Dave. They're known as the notorious Striders, but you know they're just talking out of their asses. Dirk is distracted and kind of quiet when the entire group is together like this, so you can tell he doesn't really like socializing. Though when it's just his group of four, he seems very comfortable. He will chime in with a sarcastic remark from time to time when everyone's talking. He has fingerless gloves on and he's currently playing on Jakes phone (you can tell because of the green phone case with a skull on it). He's always wearing and orange shirt with black skinny jeans. His eyes are covered with these ridiculous pointy shades that you swear you've seen in an anime before. You've never seen him without them, even if he's working backstage in the darkness. His hair is sculpted up in these spikes, which you know would look horrendous on anyone else but he somehow makes it work. He has a few piercings on his face but you've never paid enough attention to notice where. 

Dirks friend, Jake, is kind of the opposite you think. He talks a million miles a minute, green eyes always bright with excitement and happiness behind his rectangular glasses. He has a thick accent and most of the time you can't even understand what he's saying with all the "golly!"'s and whatnot. His black hair looks unmanageable most of the time, but compliments his tan skin tone. His teeth are always showing in this buck-tooth smile. He has a more simple clothing choice, T-shirts and khaki shorts. 

You think Dirk and Jake may have some sort of relationship that goes beyond friendship, but you can't tell for sure. 

Right next to Dirk is Roxy, one of the loudest of the group. She sometimes borders on annoying but never gets too awful. She stumbles and slurs her words a lot, trying to hide it by correcting herself jokingly. She probably drinks a lot more than a high schooler should. She is also blonde, but it's a shade darker than Dirks. She has a thing for scarves (like someone else you know, and holy fuck you don't even know why you thought of him in the first place). She likes pink, either her skirts or shirts are some shade of it. She's very pretty with a simple but stylish clothing choice. 

And next to her is the final one of the group, Jane. She's quieter than the others but still thoroughly sweet with her words and actions. When she does jump in she's very silly but manages to make everyone laugh. She loves to bake, and you remember once at the end of the when she brought you all cupcakes she had made. They were delicious. She's a chubby girl, and very cute in her own way. She has dark hair that's kept in a short style. She wears red glasses and has shocking blue eyes, also an overbite (similar to Jakes) and wears cute T-shirts and long skirts that vary in color to match. 

All four of them work backstage, you're safe to assume they've been together a long time, since they're attached at the hip any time they're near each other. 

Next to Vriska sat Gamzee Makara. You two are actually very good friends, since you both hang out with Karkat and it's very rare to find Karkat without Gamzee close by. They have the closest and most brotherly friendship you have ever seen. Even though he doesn't look like much, he's one of the interesting people you know. He wears old and worn out clothes, which you assume he keeps for comfort purposes. His whole body is long and lanky, his height easily reaching over six feet. His short and curly hair flops into his half-lidded eyes as he bobs his head up and down to some unheard music. He reaches out for a bottle of Faygo, throwing his head back to take a long swig of it. He smiled at the bottle with a loving stare after he was done. 

He's definitely on drugs. 

As you sit and gawk at everyone, out of the corner of your eye you see Aradia sit down again, holding a cherry Pepsi and a snack. She smiles at you and is about to say something but cut off when someone comes in and speaks up. 

"'Sup." 

All your attention is turned towards Dave Strider, who walks in from the auditorium with John Egbert and Terezi Pyrope. 

Dirk is the first to counter his greeting with a 'Sup bro' and soon everyone speaks up with a chorus of greetings for him. Dave just nods back at them all, keeping a poker face that's completed with a pair of Aviator shades before pulling up a chair and sits down. Terezi cackles a bit, putting a hand on Dave's shoulder before plopping down on his lap. Her thin and bony body doesn't really affect him at all, but he still plays along and makes an 'oof' sound which causes her to grin with satisfaction. They tease each other for a minute before she leans back against his chest comfortably, playing with a strand of his hair. 

They're obviously dating, and have been for awhile now. Terezi isn't in Stage Crew, which you don't really understand why since she's always at the meetings with Dave. Something about her eyesight not being so great? Oh well. In short they're pretty much perfect for each other. You see them a lot during school, but not as much as Dave and John are together. 

Speaking of John... He pulled up a chair to sit next to them. For now he's quiet, but that's just it's his first year of Stage Crew and he barely knows any of you. Fuck that guy for taking your lighting job. 

He has dark and unruly hair, also wearing thick glasses. He has blue eyes too, but not as bright as Janes. He grins and laughs, showing off some braces that are on his teeth. His clothes are pretty much the same as Jakes, though he wears shirts with movie and video game designs on them. 

You suddenly hear a loud and impatient voice rise up through the chatter, "Listen up, assholes." KK calls. 

All conversation quickly dwindles one at a time, looking towards the short boy expectantly. 

"As some of you may know, this years musical is West Side Story." 

A chorus of groans sound off.

"Isn't that the spin off of Romeo and Juliet, except only one of them dies?" Vriska pipes up, making a displeased face while popping another bubble with her gum. 

"I was getting to that," Karkat continues, "West Side Story is a spin off of Romeo and Juliet. It's set in the 1930's and the rivalry is between the Jets-the Americans-and the Sharks-the Puerto Ricans. The rest is pretty obvious. Jet falls in love with Shark, forbidden love, fighting, tragedy, blah blah blah. The main two cast-Maria and Tony-are played by Feferi and Eridan. Thankfully only one of them is a major ass, and if you want to know which one you can just ask Sollux. I'm pretty sure he was feeling him up earlier." He finishes, smirking at you before looking down at his clip board. 

Your cheeks heat up when they all glance towards you and snicker. 

"I wasn't feeling anyone up..." You mumble, mostly to yourself, "I was just putting on his microphone." 

"You touched Ampora?" Vriska speaks up and you swear you can hear the smirk in her voice. 

Terezi cuts in with a loud laugh, turning her head in your direction, "That's something I never thought I'd hear, Sollux."

You flip them off, getting a couple more sarcastic remarks before attention is on Karkat again. 

"The sets aren't too bad, so I'm going to split us into two sides now. Stage right will be Jane, Roxy, Dirk, and Jake. Gamzee with work headset and be assistant stage manager on that side." 

At the sound of his name, Gamzee looked up and gave a lazy grin, waving a hand towards them. 

"Right. And my side, stage left, will be Vriska, Sollux, and Aradia. Equius will be here tomorrow to work fly. Sound good, everyone?" 

They all nod and gives cheers in agreement. 

"A couple more things," Karkat holds up a finger before they can all get up and separate, "listen to your cues, don't be loud and obnoxious, and for the love of fucking god do NOT mess with the actors!" He pleaded, "And that's all. Now get going, we start in ten minutes." 

The group gets up from their chairs, splitting into their different sides before heading off towards the stage. 

You sigh, biting your lip as you meet up with Aradia and Vriska. This is definitely going to be a long couple of months.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I got around to the next chapter. I rewrote this thing like three times and I'm still not satisfied with it, but it'll have to do for now. Kanaya is introduced in this chapter, and some more character development goes on.
> 
> I did an outline of the entire story and I assume it's going to be around 10 chapters hopefully. But thanks to all who commented and left kudos for the chapter, it's much appreciated and motivates me a lot :) So enjoy.

Your name is Sollux Captor, and you're currently hiding in the darkness of backstage. 

To be honest, it isn't really hiding. You know that no one cares where you've gone off to, and even if someone did need to find you, all they need to look for is the glow of your phones screen on your face. You tap and swipe aimless on your phone and play some shitty app you payed two dollars for. What a waste of money. Bored, you sigh and press the button at the top of your phone so the screen goes black and locks. Now the only source of light is a dim bulb that hangs above the stair case leading to the fly. The entire stage seems to hum with a constant electric energy. Looking up, you can see the faint outline of pipes and wires that run in different directions and patterns. 

Rehearsals haven't even started yet (they rarely start right at 6:30) so the actors still chat and blabber away in the audience section. Their voices are too muffled for you to listen in on any conversations, unfortunately. You can hear your group gathered in a little section around KK, who's talking noisily with Dave, John, and Gamzee on headset. Every now and then you hear Vriska's loud laugh cut through the air. You're not sure what the kids on the other side are doing, but their silhouettes against the dim light indicate they're just standing around. Roxy's slurs and giggles carry across the room. 

As you sit in your own silence, you don't even notice the light and careful footsteps approach you in the corner. Aradia's foot nudged your own and you nearly jump out of your skin. She laughs. 

You put a hand on your chest, "Fuck, AA, don't do that." 

"I thought you saw me walking over." She defends, taking a seat next to you. She stretches her skirt down to her ankles so she can hug her knees to her chest. "What are you doing over here?"

You shrug, "Do I have to have a reason?" 

"Do you really dislike us all that much? It's just me and Vriska, so I have to admit I'm a little hurt that you would run off and hide." Aradia explains, huffing out a breath so a loose strand of hair will blow out of her face. 

"That's not it at all...!" You blurt out a little too loudly. Fuck. "I mean, it's not you at all. I just don't want to listen to KK bitch and yell over headset. Besides, it's not so bad back here." You lisp, motioning to your surroundings. 

The girl next to you fall silent for a moment, her fluffy hair brushing against your shoulder. It looks like she nods to herself, smiling before turning to you. The light makes her complexion look a golden color and her eyes very dark. "I will admit it is nice..." She concludes, "But that still doesn't explain why you would hide away like this!" 

You groan, "To be honest, I'm still fucking pissed that I'm not working light board anymore." 

"THAT'S what you're still pouting about?" She asks incredulously, "Sollux, maybe this is a good thing for you." 

What the fuck was that supposed to mean? "What?" You question, raising an eyebrow.

She averts her gaze from your face, picking at a tear at the end of her sleeve, "You're always so... closed in on yourself. When we became Freshman, I asked you to join Stage Crew with me because I'd hoped you would work backstage with all of us, but instead you started working that dumb light board. The whole crew barely even knows your name..." AA exclaims. 

You're so confused, "That's not true, I open up to you... don't I?"

Her lips purse into a thin line, "Yes, but-" 

"Then what's the problem?" 

"You can open up to more people, Sollux, not just me." 

You feel yourself getting more and more frustrated, "I have plenty of friends. There's KK, GZ, and I guess FF..."

"When was the last time you made an effort to spend any time with them?" 

The question catches you off guard and your body tenses up. 

Aradia waits a second, studying your face to see if you're going to reply. You don't. "That's what I thought. But really, this is a great chance. You've been such a great friend to me, why can't you do the same with someone else?" She smiles. 

Oh fuck. Ow, abort mission. Your throat feels as if it closes up. Though she takes your silence as a sign of considering her offer. She pats your knee before rising to her feet, walking away without another word. 

She doesn't get it, and it makes you grind your teeth together in frustration. 

\--

Once you had recovered from that painful blow, you relocated yourself out of the corner so you now sit next to Karkat in a chair (that you're pretty sure is supposed to be a prop, but then again you don't care). Rehearsals had finally started about twenty minutes ago. Backstage is crowded with actors that watch the others onstage eagerly, waiting for their chance to join them. Karkat is on headset, headphones over his ears as he stares down intently at notes and papers that scatter around a desk he had brought backstage just for him. He leans back in his chair and presses a button on the wall, letting him communicate with the others as he say a cue to them. 

You wait until he's done to speak, "KK..." You almost whine. He glares in your direction, so you take that as a sign that he's listening. "AA said it again..."

KK opens his mouth to say something, but just then the lights on stage darken, cutting off the actors mid-line as the others gasp. His hand flies back to slam the button so fast his arm is a blur. 

"No John! I told you the blackout was in the NEXT scene you ignorant sack of shit!" 

You can hear John's frantic reply through the headphones but you're not able to make out what he's saying. 

"I don't care what I wrote down!" KK roars back, "Just turn the lights back on!" 

There's a brief second of dead silence as everyone stares at Karkat. Then the lights flicker back to life on stage.

"Sorry, continue!" He yells out to the director from where he's sitting. There's a moment of hesitation before the actors continue their lines and the others resume their conversations. 

"Nice KK..." You observe and hold back a snicker. 

"Shut your fucking mouth." He snaps back, running a hand through his hair. "It's not even an hour in and I'm already exhausted." The boy says, throwing the headphones down on the desk. "Do you mind taking over for awhile? I need to monitor John's moronic behavior before he ends up blinding someone with a spot light or something."

"Sure I guess." 

He doesn't even mutter a thanks before he's on his feet and out the door. You take a seat in his chair, placing the headphones over your ears, immediately met with the sound of voices. 

You press the button behind you, "You better watch your ass John, KK's after you." 

He gasps, "Wait he's coming over here?! Wait, is this Sollux? That's your name right? Why didn't you stop him?"

"Why would I? Not my fault you're being a fuck up." 

"I didn't know that was the blackout button!" John defends, voice panicked. 

It sounds as if he gets cut off and you don't hear from him again, so you assume Karkat finally got there. 

Another voice crackles in, "Hey Solbro, what's go you communicating with us through these magical ear devices?"

Gamzee.

"Hey GZ," You greet casually, "I'm just taking over while KK yells at John." 

He chuckles, "That was pretty motherfuckin' funny, made my insides all happy and tingly as they filled up with laughter." Gamzee drawls, voice gruff. 

You narrow your eyes, barely even able to process the nonsense he just spewed, "What?"

"I think he meant to say John's fuck up made him shit himself with laughter." Yet another voice cuts in, and you immediately know it's Dave. 

"Thanks for clearing that up." You retort. You really don't want to deal with their shit right now. "I'm pretty sure you guys can handle yourselves, so I'm getting off. Gamzee, pay attention to the script." You instruct. 

"No problem bro, got the script layin' out right here. Keepin' up with the lines and everything like a responsible motherfucker." 

"Right, okay then. Later." You state, quickly dismissing yourself and taking off the headphones before you can hear any other reply. 

Suddenly a figure plops down in the chair next to you (the one you had been sitting in earlier). You turn your head to tell them to fuck off, but they beat you to it. 

"Hey Sol," He says, and it doesn't take that much to identify that it's Eridan, "Do you mind if I sit here for a minute? All that singin' and talkin' on stage has really worn me out. " 

You glare daggers at him, "I guess not... Though why do you have to sit here?" 

"Do you see any other options?" 

You quickly glance around, making a mental note that Aradia was standing and chatting with Feferi. Vriska was sprawled out on the only other available bench, tapping away at a DS.

Damn, there really isn't any other seats. "No..." You conclude. 

"Exactly." Eridan grins, leaning back in his chair, "But anyway, Sol-"

Your eye twitches, "Don't call me that." You cut him off. 

"What, Sol?"

"Yeah."

"No one else calls you that?"

"No."

"That's surprisin'..." The boy mumbles, fidgeting with the end of his purple scarf, "But really, Sollux," His face scrunches up as if it physically pains him to say it, "can you help me go get a couple mannequins from the chorus room? We need 'em for a scene and the director asked me to go get 'em, but I obviously can't carry two at once so..."

"Why don't you ask Vriska?" You ask. You really don't want to help this douche. 

He glances towards her, shaking his head vigorously, "She looks busy."

Wow, what a wimp. It's obvious in his face that Vriska obviously scares him. This amuses you for a second before you realize he's still waiting for an answer. You roll the thought around, deciding to might as well get it over with or he won't stop bothering you about it. "Fine, but make it quick."

"Great." He exclaims, hopping up from his chair.

You get up a little less enthusiastically, following him through the doors and into the hallway. Eridan leads you down the hall towards the chorus room, and he never stops running his mouth for one second. 

"I mean, I could make two trips, but that would be too much work. Besides, it is the crews job to move shit for us, right? Right. Though I don't want to seem rude, so getting half of the work done for me seemed like a fair deal, wouldn't you agree? And also I wasn't sure if you would even know where the chorus room was-"

"Eridan, shut up." You interrupt. 

He opens his mouth, snapping it shut a second after with an audible click. He stays silent until reaching the chorus room. The room is large, risers in the center of it. Three walls are white and covered with posters, while the other is a huge mirror that reflects the entire room and the risers. You assume it's so the students can observe themselves and their posture as they sing. A piano is pushed against the right wall, a whiteboard next to it. You take a few seconds to simply observe as Eridan immediately goes to a door that looks to lead to an office. Though he does see this place every day, you assume, so there's nothing new to him. 

He knocks on the closed door, "Kan, are you in there?"

You hear a female answer "come in" and he opens the door.

Inside isn't what you expected. You expected an office of some sort, but instead it's a sort of costume room. The rooms smells of flowers and some kind of perfume. There are different articles of clothing everywhere. In bins, on hangers, or laying out on tables. One table has a sewing machine and a girl sitting behind it. Her long and graceful fingers tie a bow around the neck of female mannequin, already wearing an old fashioned wedding dress. Her eyes lift towards you both, green lips twitching up in a smile. 

"Hello Eridan," She greets before turning to you, "And...?" She trails off, trying to be polite. 

"Sollux." You answer, though cringe when your lisp makes it sound like 'Thollux'.

"Sollux." She pronounces properly (to your surprise), rising to her feet and holding out a pale hand for you to shake. You hold out yours also, surprised by the amount of force she has in her dainty fingers. 

"Great, we got introductions outta the way. Can we take these now?" Eridan cuts in, motioning to the male and female mannequins, both dressed in wedding attire. 

The girl rolls her dark eyes, crossing her arms, "I suppose they are ready to be taken, though I was hoping I would be able to make some adjustments."

"Adjustments?" You ask. 

"Why yes," She begins and brushes a strand of her hair to fall perfectly with the rest of her bobbed style, the color of her hair holding a green tint in the light, "I did make almost every outfit you see."

Your jaw drops, "Made this stuff? Like, sewed and worked with the fabrics?"

"Indeed, I am the costume designer. I've been working with sewing and fabrics ever since I was young." She says in a smooth voice and motions to her own clothes, a black long-sleeved shirt with a V neck collar and a red skirt that ends just above her knees, hugging her thighs. "I make most of my clothes." 

"Yeah, Kan really is amazin'." The other boy suddenly says, "She made all these outfits with the help of Rose." 

"Rose?" You question again. 

"Yes, Rose..." She answers, and you think you see her cheeks dust with pink, "She plays violin in the orchestra, though helped and kept me company as I was working. It would be nearly impossible to do everything myself." Kanaya explains, "Perhaps you will meet her after today's rehearsals."

"Maybe, I'll keep a look out for her." You promise. 

She nods before turning to Eridan, "You may take the mannequins, adjustments will come later I suppose. It was nice to meet you Sollux." She says, sitting in her chair behind her sewing machine to work on what seems to be a dress.

"Right. Sol, you grab the male and I'll get the female." Eridan instructs, grabbing the female around the waist and carefully lifting it up. You do the same to the male without much complaint. Saying your final goodbyes to Kanaya, you both awkwardly shuffle out of the room and towards the stage. She absently waves a hand before she's sewing once again. 

\--

The rest of the night passes without much commotion. The two mannequins you two had fetched sit safely in the corner, waiting for when they have to be moved on stage in future rehearsals. Eridan is on stage the rest of the time with Feferi, practicing their major scenes and songs together. You hear a few whispers and giggles about how they look cute together on stage or some shit like that. You'll never admit out loud, but you kind of miss having Eridan around to bicker with as you sit around. Karkat eventually came back too and there wasn't another lighting mistake the entire night. You have no idea if he just scared the shit out of John or taught him things on the spot, but either way it worked. 

The current time is a little passed 10:30, and you can tell everyone is losing energy. KK barely talks anymore, and you can see the actors who aren't on stage lounging around. Since Feferi was on stage, Aradia had wandered back over to you. She found another seat and simply observed for awhile, though she couldn't fight off sleep forever as she currently dozes off with her head on your shoulder, you don't mind though. Even the orchestra seems to be falling asleep, so the director finally takes the hint and dismisses everyone for the night. 

Karkat literally cheers, rising from his chair so fast it hits the wall with a loud thud. The sudden noise abruptly wakes Aradia from her slumber and she looks around wide-eyed, "What...?"

You can't help but smile, "Rehearsals are over." 

"Oh..." She yawns, "Oh gosh, did I fall asleep on you? I'm so sorry!" She quickly apologizes. 

"It's fine, we're all tired." 

She seems reluctant, but agrees without much of a fight, "Okay..."

Behind her you see Vriska stand from her bench, stretching her limbs so they crack and pop loudly, "Fucking finally," She calls out, "that was exhausting." 

"You didn't even do anything!" Karkat hollers back at her. 

"Hey, sitting here playing video games for hours is tiring. My thumbs ache like a bitch." Vriska retorts back teasingly, wiggling her thumbs and fingers for emphasis. 

KK snarls back at her. 

Aradia obviously isn't sticking around to hear her nonsense, because by the time they're done she's up and almost out the door. You trail behind her, ignoring the way Vriska snickers at you when you pass. Thankfully everyone was almost gone, leaving the cafeteria nearly empty. The four kids are huddled in a corner, talking and giggling softly amongst themselves. You see Kanaya talking with a girl with short blonde hair, wearing a long black dress and holding a violin in her right hand. You can only assume it was the Rose girl she mentioned since they're talking animatedly to each other, so you decide not to introduce yourself like you promised. Though then you see Eridan and Feferi. 

They're smiling and laughing together, slowly walking towards the exit as they talk. Their shoulders brush together occasionally until they round a corner so you can no longer see them. 

Aradia seems tense upon seeing them, causing you to look at her curiously, "AA?"

"Hm...?" She answers, still not looking away from where they had disappeared. 

"Are you okay?"

She suddenly snaps out of her trance and looks up at you, "Oh, I'm fine." She tries to smile, but somehow it doesn't look very sincere. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Yeah, sure..." You furrow your eyebrows together in confusion. 

With that she walks off, hands behind her back as she exits the building into the cool night. 

What the hell was that all about?


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter! If you couldn't tell already, I plan on updating every Monday, but I'm busy tomorrow so I decided to do it today. (follow me on Tumblr if you want to know when I update. sluttyeridanbooty.tumblr.com.)
> 
> EriSol with a side of Nepeta and Equius, with just a pinch of GamTav! I hope this chapter is satisfactory, hehe. Things will start to pick up from here :O

Your name is Sollux Captor, and you're pretty fucking bored right now. 

Another day of school had finally come to an end, burying you in assignments and projects as usual. The current time is around five o clock, and honestly you wish you could have gone home, eaten some food, and curled up for three hour nap. But life sucks, so you're still stuck at school. Your current location is near one of the stair cases that leads to the second floor of the school. You lean against the wall, clicking away at your small laptop that rests against your thighs. Wrappers are scattered around you from snacks you had bought earlier from the vending machines, along with a couple soda bottles. Thankfully the caffeine has managed to keep you awake this long, so you really don't plan on passing out on the cold tiles under you. That would be pretty nasty anyway. 

You're not alone either, so that's also been able to help you keep your sanity. Karkat is sprawled out on the floor next to you, clearly not as concerned by the cleanliness of the ground as you are. His head is propped up against your right leg as he listens to music and fucks around on his phone. His feet sit in Gamzee's lap. Gamzee isn't really doing anything, just kind of staring off into the distance and tying Karkat's shoes over and over again. So to summarize this nonsense again, you're pretty fucking bored.

You try to load a video on YouTube, yet the school wifi is pretty shitty so you find yourself staring at a blank screen for about ten minutes before you give up. You sigh and snap the lid shut. "Fucking wifi won't work." You grumble under you breath, irritated. 

Gamzee perks up with your sudden action, "The motherfucking internet signals aren't working?"

"Nope." You answer, carelessly shoving your laptop aside. Though then you flinch because it makes a loud bang that probably did more damage than good to the device. 

Karkat jumps at the sound and pulls one headphone out of his ear. "What now?" He demands and looks up at you. 

"Internet's shit." You state simply.

"That's nothing new." The short boy says, turning his attention back to his phone. 

"KK, I'm fucking bored over here. Isn't there something else we can do other than just sit around?"

"What do you want me to do? Just pull some entertainment out of my ass?" KK barks back. 

You pause to imagine that for a second, "When you put it like that-no, not really."

"Fuck you."

"Now let's just calm down, my best friends. I'm pretty sure something will come along and satisfy." Gamzee pipes up. 

"Well then what's your idea?" The other asks, tone softening just a bit because of GZ's friendly tone. 

"We should gather up some more of our friends and have ourselves a fantastic time." Was his response as he grinned lazily.

"That would be a good idea, but in case you haven't noticed we were the only ones stupid enough to stay today." You answer him instead. 

"You didn't have to stay here, asshole. I can't even handle just sitting here with you because all you do is fucking complain." KK snaps. 

"It's not my fault I'm sick and tired of doing nothing all day. Why can't we go hang out backstage?" 

"Director told me to stay away from the auditorium today until rehearsals, but that's literally all he told me." He informs you. 

"Well shit." You mumble.

GZ nods to agree, messing with Karkat's shoes again. The three of you sit in silence again. Despite the previous argument, you never have uncomfortable silences. You've been friends way too long for that. The sound of footsteps thumping down the stairs causes you all to look towards the bottom expectantly.

A short girl jumps off the bottom step, a long green coat flapping behind her. It's obvious it doesn't belong to her, since the sleeves hang well passed her hands as one side is falling off her shoulder. She wears a black T-shirt underneath along with skinny jeans and bright blue converse. She looks over at you all curiously, big brow eyes lighting up. You can see a pair of blue cat ears sticking up from a headband that sits in her short curly hair. She makes a lap over to the three of you. 

"Hi guys!" She chirps and plops down on the floor in front of you. 

A chorus of greeting sound off to Nepeta. You and Nepeta actually share a couple classes together, and almost everyone mistakes her for a Freshman (those who don't know her very well) because of her small stature and carefree attitude. She never seems to mind, only correcting them with a smile and giggle. Though no one dares to mess with her about it, because her best friend is the star of the wrestling team, and always close by. He currently follows her right down the stairs. He's very very tall, even taller than Gamzee. He wears a tight shirt that shows off his muscled chest and arms, also having loose jeans on. A pair of cracked shades over his eyes, black hair falling down to his shoulders. He follows silently and sits down next to Nepeta. 

"Sooo what are you guys up to? Having a lot of fun?" The girl asks, taking not mind to Equius' presence. She glances towards Karkat as he takes both headphones out and shoves his phone in his pocket. 

"I wish we were having fun." You answer her.

"Well that's lame!" She answers, chubby cheeks puffing out as she thinks, "Why aren't you guys in the auditorium?" 

"Director told me to stay out." KK answers. 

"Aw, well, I can understand that." Nepeta says. 

"Why? Do you know what's happening?" The shorter boy asks, suddenly interested. 

"The art club is painting the sets today, silly!" She explains. 

"Oh fuck, that was today?" Your eyes widen slightly in realization. 

"Yes, Nepeta was actually just on her way to help, since she is in art club." Equius speaks up, voice quiet and formal as he crosses his arms.

"Yeah! I had to go with him to talk to his wrestling coach." Nepeta says so you all know what they were doing upstairs. 

"So what time do you think they'll be done?" KK questions. 

The girls shoulders shrug, causing the jacket to fall off more. "Before rehearsals, that's for sure. Though they do need some techies to help set them up after they're done. Do you want to help?"

"Hell yeah motherfuckers, I'll definitely help out the art bros with their sets." GZ speaks up immediately. 

"I can help out too, I guess." You agree.

"Yay!" She claps her hands, "What about you, Karkitty?"

Karkat grunts and shrugs, not even reacting to the childish nickname she had given him. "These two can handle themselves. I'll probably just go to the cafeteria and bug everyone there." He explains, though you know he was indirectly saying 'I'm going to annoy the shit out of John until he actually starts talking to me'.

"Oh, okay." Nepeta says, and you don't miss the slight disappointment in her voice. If her cat ears were real, they would definitely droop down with sadness. "Then let's go Sollux and Gamzee!" She hops up again, Equius rising to his feet also. 

After you and Gamzee had packed up and left your bags with Karkat (who said he would make sure to watch them, but you highly doubt it) before you're following the pair to the auditorium. As you pass the cafeteria you see it's almost deserted, the only people being Dave and John. They're both huddled around one laptop as they talk amongst themselves. You wonder if you should text KK and warn him about the extra company John has, but you're pretty cruel so you just let him be surprised. 

Upon entering the auditorium, the whole place is lit up as well as the stage. Large canvases are laid out, multiple students of different shapes and sizes huddled over them with paint brushes in hand. They talk quietly and laugh at their own jokes as they shade and paint their sets. Honestly the art club together like this always lightens up any room. Nepeta sees her friends and skips onto the stage to join. She picks up her own brush and begins helping on the biggest canvas, coloring a city landscape with precision and skill. Meanwhile Equius wanders off backstage, and you can only assume it's so he can hang out on the fly as his friend socializes and works. 

The audience section is empty, so you take a seat and wait until the club needs your assistance. You sit near the back, taking out your phone once again to pass the time. You expected GZ to take a seat also, but instead he just strolls up to the stage and approaches the club. You're about to call him over since he's an idiot, but you cut yourself off when you see him approaching a boy that stands out a lot more than the rest. He sits in a wheelchair, carefully painting a canvas that had been propped against the wall just for him. You can see how he tries to move to the left, yet his wheel gets stuck on something. He glances around nervously so you can see a brown mohawk on his head. He calls out to a couple people, yet they seem too busy. That's when Gamzee comes up and dislodges his wheel, causing the boy to jerk in surprise and look up at him. GZ just smiles back, rolling his chair over to the other side he'd been trying to reach. The boy then says something, but you can't make it out because of how far away they are, so you think he's thanking Gamzee profusely. The taller drawls something back, usual grin always present on his face. He never leaves his side, instead watching him draw and paint with interest. 

You continue to watch them, phone long forgotten as you see the scene unfold. Sometimes you don't understand how Gamzee can seem so likeable since he looks pretty intimidating. It must be the way he speaks and the constant smile. Not being able to hear their conversation really takes away the entertainment, so you find yourself slumping in the cushioned theater seat as you take in the familiar surroundings. You then notice someone else in the audience that you hadn't seen before. They look like they're huddled over a book, pencil scratching across the page frantically. You see they're wearing a scarf, hair slicked back with a bold purple streak. Eridan. What is he doing here? You never expected him to be here hours before rehearsals. Curiosity has gotten the best of you. You rise up to your feet and walk past the empty seats to the aisle, approaching the row where Eridan sits. Once you're close enough you see he's surrounded by multiple books, a notebook propped up in his lap as he continues to write. 

He hasn't noticed you yet, which makes it a thousand times funnier when you plop down in the seat next to him and he nearly jumps out of his skin. 

"Fuck!" He cries out, the pencil he was holding flying out of his hand and clacking onto the floor. 

You smirk, "Hey."

He looks over at you, squinting at you as if his glasses had fallen to the ground instead of his pencil. "... Sol?" He finally asks, as if he can't believe it. 

"Yeah, hey." You repeat. 

Eridan sighs, finally getting over his recent scare. "What are you doin' over here? You came out of nowhere." 

"I could ask the same to you. I always stay after school." 

"Why?"

"I'm a techie, I'd rather hang out here all day than have to go home and come back later." You answer easily. 

"That's pretty interestin'... But if you must know why I'm here, it's because I didn't really feel like goin' home today either. So I've been in here all day workin' on homework and projects." The other explains, motioning to the books surrounding him. 

"Homework, huh?" You pick up a text book from the floor and inspect the cover. 

"Yeah, I have some history that needs to get done." 

"I can see that..." You lisp, inspecting the book of almost two thousand pages of world history. 

"So if you don't mind," He begins and snatches the book away from you, "I would like to get back to it."

You raise an eyebrow at him, "What, I can't have a pleasant conversation with you?" 

"We've never managed to have a pleasant conversation, we always end up fightin'. So I'd like to break it off before it results in that." He dully states. 

The statement actually makes you pause for a second, gnawing on your lower lip. Why did you want to talk to Eridan? You can't stand him, and you've made that perfectly clear multiple times. Though the conversation you had with Aradia yesterday keeps playing over and over in your head. You do have to make an effort to spend time with people, but why were you doing such a thing with Eridan? The only thing you can think of is you want to show her you can handle it, even if it is with someone like him. 

"Why don't we start over?" You blurt out without even thinking. You regret it immediately. 

You see his eyes stop reading his book, eyebrows pulling together because of the sudden question, "... What?" Is his only answer. You feel like running away right then and there. 

"Uh, you know, start over." You answer stupidly. 

"I'm not sayin' I'm not willin' to do so, but what brought this on all of a sudden? First you sit next to me unexpectedly, and now you're sayin' you want to 'start over'?" 

"Well sorry that I even suggested it." You snap back, about to get up from your seat. What's with this guy? You didn't think things went that horribly yesterday. 

"Wait, Sol, I didn't say you could leave yet!" The other calls back before you have a chance to leave. "I said I was willin' to give it a try, right? I would actually like that, because I'm not sure what I even did in the first place to make you be so irritated with me." He explains, the look on his face showing sincerity. 

The look almost made you smile. Almost. "You just have one of those faces I can't stand. And your ego kind of annoys the shit out of me." You tease. 

This causes him to scoff and roll his eyes, "You hang out with someone like Kar and yet you can't stand me? That seems pretty stupid if you ask me." 

You actually laugh when he says this, his strange accent just making him sound whinier than usual. "Yeah, you have a point," You agree, "So, we're starting over?" 

A small smile pulls at the corners of his mouth, "Fine, though when you say it like that it sounds extremely idiotic. Why don't we just say we're learnin' to tolerate each other?" He proposes. 

"Fair enough. Let's learn to tolerate each other then." You agree, holding out your hand. 

You think you hear him mutter under his breath about how handshakes are a ridiculous way to officially agree on something, but yet his ringed ringers take a hold of your hand for a firm shake. 

"Great, we got that outta the way." He comments, "So are you like, going to hang out with me while I do homework or what?" 

You shrug, "Well, why not? I'm just sitting here waiting for the art club to finish their sets so I can help GZ move them."

"It's obviously goin' to be awhile then. Why don't you join me in a trip to library? I need to pick up a book I forgot to get earlier today."

This surprises you a bit, yet that is a lot better than just sitting around here to watch others paint scenery. "Uh, sure." You agree. 

"Great, follow me then." Eridan instructs, setting the book on his lap to the side before stepping over them to exit the auditorium. You follow close behind, walking through cafeteria and into one of the hallways. You don't have to walk very far before Eridan pushes open the double doors to the library. The spacious room remains lit, though free from librarians and teachers. They must have left awhile ago. You look around since you rarely ever come in here, yet you don't understand why. It's warm and cozy, sofas and chairs surrounding book cases and tables with computers on them. Artwork covers the walls behind the check out desk, along with movie posters that were based off books. 

The other boy quickly walks off towards the back, and you have to jog to catch up. He enters the non-fiction section, browsing the spines for his book. He crouches down on the floor, fingers brushing against them as he mumbles something under his breath. Eridan finally pulls out a thick book, the cover looking a little aged. 

You can't help but glance over his shoulder with interest. "Marine biology?" You ask. 

"Yeah." He answers, seeming distracted as he gets up once again. "It's for some research in a class." The boy starts walking towards one of the tables in the library.

You take a seat next to him, scooting up close enough to see the book. Despite your closeness he doesn't seem to mind. "This book looks pretty old... Don't you want something that's more up to date?" You wonder aloud. 

Eridan simply shrugs, leafing through the pages absentmindedly, "Facts are facts. Doesn't matter how old the book is as long as it's still accurate."

"That's true, I suppose. Why marine biology?"

"It's an... interest of mine. Along with history, I really like both subjects." He informs. 

This once again surprises you. He actually puts effort into more than just theater? You don't have any classes with him, so that means he's either in honors or critical classes. But the way her reads world history and marine biology text books like novels cancel out the second option. 

"Why do you like those subjects?"

"How can you not? The ocean is really fascinatin'. More than ninety percent of it has been unexplored. The deep sea is especially interestin', since so many bizarre and crazy things have been found down there." Eridan answers easily, eyes always scanning the words and pictures. 

"You seem pretty passionate about it..." You observe. 

"Of course! I have to be, I am goin' to study it in college after all."

"As a major?"

"Yup."

You're taken back by this, "What about theater? I mean, obviously you're good at it if you've gotten multiple parts in both plays and musicals. Even your singing is great." You state, complimenting him, though not really on purpose.

"Uh, thanks, I guess. Even if I would like to go into theater, I don't have the approval I would need."

"Approval?"

"To put it simply, my father doesn't really appreciate my talents. I'm lucky I'm able to act and sing at school." Eridan says softly, interest in his book coming to halt.

Oh, so he's one of those kids that has to live up to daddy's standards? For some reason that doesn't surprise you, yet it's very unfortunate that his talents have to go to waste. You mumble a 'I'm sorry to hear that', because honestly there's nothing else to say. 

He nods, clearing his throat before turning to you. "What about you? You're a senior, right? What are you goin' to college for?" Obviously changing the subject. 

The only thing that comes from you is silence for a moment, but he's looking at you so expectantly and it feels like your throat is closing up. "I... don't know." You finally choke out. 

His smile slowly fades. "You don't know...? You haven't applied for colleges or anythin'?" 

"No, my grades aren't necessarily the best right now. Just trying to make it through to graduation, I guess." You tell him honestly. 

"Oh..." He looks like he isn't sure about what to say for a moment, "You have to be good at somethin' though."

"I work on computers a lot. Y'know, programing and shit. That's the only class I've ever managed to keep an A in."

"That's good at least." Eridan looks relieved, "What about gettin' your other grades up? I mean, if you manage to get them up to an average grade then a C or high on finals give you a good chance at a decent college."

Your lips purse together, honestly very confused on why he's showing much concern about your school life. "I'm not sure I can do it." You answer bluntly. 

"What if I helped?"

"Helped?"

"Yeah, we have almost two months left of theater, so why don't we help each other? New start, correct? We can begin tomorrow." He encourages, a determined look on his face. 

"Tomorrow after school? That actually sounds pretty nice." You say, not willing to admit you're looking forward to it. Being able to hang out with someone besides KK and GZ sounded great, especially when you're getting proper help on your homework. 

"It's agreed then, tomorrow after school. It'll be the true test to see if we can handle bein' around each other."

"The true test." You repeat sarcastically, and you both snicker at how stupid and ridiculous it sounds. 

You both stay relatively silent as you make your way back to the auditorium. You take your seat next to him once again, watching as he does homework even if starts to get fed up with your comments and you both just end up bickering again. Yet you don't mind, and you have a feeling the roles will soon be reversed anyway. 

Tomorrow is definitely going to be interesting.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After two weeks this chapter is finally done. I was busy with friends and family when it came to be around the Fourth of July, but alas it is here. 
> 
> Where Eridan and Sollux really hang out and get to know each other even more~
> 
> I want to apologize in advance for the descriptions of the school. It's based off of my own high school, which is actually very large and complicated to explain, but I hope you're able to follow along alright and enjoy v_v

Your name is Sollux Captor, and this feels like the longest day of your entire life. 

Your classes have been more tedious than usual. You're used to homework, but nothing like this. You have a lengthy assignment for almost every class. Lunch sucked, which is unfortunate since that's your favorite time of the day. Instead of stuffing your face while bickering with Karkat, your lunch account was almost completely out of money, leaving you with just a sandwich and a soda. Hopefully the caffeine will get you through the rest of the day. As for Karkat, he's being more obnoxious and hopeless than usual. He talked about that John kid the entire thirty minutes of lunch, going on about how someday he'll get in his pants or something. Honestly you don't give a fuck so you just tune him out, only giving him appropriate nods and hums when necessary. Your final result is to look around the cafeteria and people gawk. 

There's actually not much going on, to your disappointment. You see Gamzee sitting with that wheelchair kid (who you earlier found out was named Tavros). KK kind of looked betrayed when He had announced he was going to sit somewhere else, yet reluctantly agreed because GZ probably would have done whatever the hell he wanted anyway. Eridan sits a few tables over also, hanging out with Feferi and a few other people you recognize from the musical. Though he doesn't seem very engaged with the others, talking exclusively to her. They chat animatedly, suddenly laughing together. For some reason your stomach feels sick at the sight, yet you blame it on the shitty sandwich and drop it down on your tray carelessly. 

When the horrendous thirty minutes are finally over, you dump the remains of your food into the garbage before following the crowds of people towards your next class. Eridan must have seen you because after he says his goodbyes to FF, he catches up and falls into step beside you. 

"Hey, Sol." He greets casually, adjusting the strap of his backpack on his shoulder from his haste. 

"Hey." You say back, still looking straight ahead as you round a corner to go to your locker. To your surprise, he continues to follow.

You stop once you're at your locker, looking over at him. "Do you need something?" You ask him, sounding a bit more harsh than intended. 

"Well, kind of. It's about tonight." He answers

You bite your lip, fingers stumbling slightly as you attempt to do your combo. Shit, had he changed his mind? You should have expected this, no one as smart and talented like Eridan Ampora would be serious when offering to help someone like you-

"I was wonderin' where you wanted to meet up after the final bell rings..." The boy suddenly pipes up, arching an eyebrow at your sudden silence.

"... Oh," You begin, letting out a breath you didn't know you had been holding, "Outside by the front entrance, where the bike racks are." 

He looks confused. "What? Why there?" He questions, strange accent putting extra emphasis on his W's.

"Just trust me, I'll explain later." You say, shoving a couple text books into your bag, "I gotta go, my class is upstairs and I'm going to be late." 

"Oh, right. I'll see you after school then." He agrees, waving as he turns on his heels to walk in the opposite direction.

You make your way towards the staircase, avoiding the glances that people give you upon seeing what just happened. Eridan must be more popular than you thought, because suddenly you feel like everyone in the entire hallway is judging you. Well fuck them, it's not any of their business anyway. 

The second half of the day doesn't go any better than the first. Math is awful, you can barely keep up. It's your worst class right now. English is filled with a bunch of idiots that never shut the fuck up. Thank God for computer classes at the end of the day. Since you know Eridan is going to be helping you on your homework, you just put on your headphones and listen to some music while you browse on the computer, easily ignoring the teacher. Though battling with the school's shitty internet is always really irritating. Finally you hear the electric drone of the bell interrupt your music. Most of the class bolts for the door, erupting into smiles and chatter as they push past each other. You follow a little less enthusiastically, being one the last ones out the door. 

Once you concluded another trip to your locker for books and the rest of today's homework, you make your way to the entrance. Once stepping outside, you're met with warm breeze that blends nicely with the chilly air. You live in the midwest, so even if it is April it never fully warms up until around the end of May. The air smells of diesel gasoline from the buses that are lined up by the curb, engines grumbling as students say their final goodbyes for the day and board. You look around for Eridan, eyes squinting as the sun shines brightly. You spot him by the bike racks. He's texting on his phone, face looking bored with whoever he's having a conversation with. His usual gray hoodie was on, a purple scarf wrapped loosely around his neck. Today he had on white skinny jeans instead of the purple from the other day. 

You finally approach him, stomach feeling a bit uneasy. "Hey." You greet first this time. 

Eridan looks away fro his phone, relief washing over his features. "Hey. Finally, I thought you were plannin' on ditchin' me or somethin'." 

"Why the fuck would I do that? I'm getting free help on my homework, I'm not that ungrateful." You defend. 

"Oh right, I suppose... do ya mind tellin' me why you've decided to meet out here?" He asks, glancing around as kids continue to walk past. 

"Yeah." You move to stand next to him, not wanting to be in anyone's way. "Once all the buses are gone, we can walk to the side of the school and use the other entrance. I have a perfect place we can work." 

"Why couldn't we just walk there from inside the school?" 

"Usually the janitors hang around. They always get nosy and make me to go to the cafeteria if they see me wandering the halls. This way we won't be caught." 

"Okay, I guess that sounds reasonable..." He agrees. 

With that you sit down and lean against the brick wall of the school, staying silent as you watch the buses leave one after the other. At first the silence was a little awkward, but after a couple minutes it felt a bit more comfortable as the wind continues to blow across the parking lot. Eridan fiddled with the end of his scarf, something that you've noticed him do when there's nothing to say. Probably just a quirk of his. You feel your phone buzz and vibrate in your pocket. Probably KK asking where you are. It actually makes you feel bad for a second, since you didn't tell him your plans for the day. But at the same time you don't care because he can get over it. Finally the last bus disappears from the parking lot, and a couple kids walk up to claim the last two bikes remaining on the rack, speeding away towards the closest neighborhood. 

"Can we go now?" Eridan speaks up, sounding impatient. 

You snicker and rise to your feet, dusting off the stray pebbles and dirt that stuck to your ass from sitting on the concrete. "Yeah, we can go, calm down. Follow me." 

He nods, repeating your actions before following you down the sidewalks. You lead him on the path that wraps around the enormous building, walking past a few doors that would lead to the gym. You know you're close when you pass the entrance to the band room, hearing a student practice their trumpet from inside. The one you're looking for shouldn't be too far. Eridan looks as if he's never been here, looking around and out towards the football field and tennis courts. You stop suddenly in front of the designated door, causing the other to crash into your back because he wasn't paying attention. You both grip and argue about it for awhile, making you wonder how the rest of the evening will play out if this goes on. Finally putting an end to the useless fighting, you push open the doors and enter the school. You're met with a familiar hallway, one you know both you and Eridan walk through at least once a day. You enter quietly, the other trailing behind you. 

"What was the point of this again?" He demands loudly, "Why couldn't we just do this in the cafeteria?" 

"Shh!" You quickly hush, "I hate working in the cafeteria. Besides, sometimes the sports teams meet there after school and they're annoying as fuck. Just shut up and follow me." 

He rolls his eyes but doesn't protest. You walk in a little further, taking a right through another set of doors, revealing a staircase ascending up to the second floor. The dull walls have been painted with a rich blue, designs of planets and stars scattered around as you begin to climb the stairs. Out of the four staircases in the school, this one's your favorite. You truly believe the art kids outdid themselves on the design. Your shoes slap against the hard steps until you reach the top, where then there's a small clearing to the left, and to the right of the doors that lead to an upstairs hallway. The clearing has a couple outlets on the wall, making it an ideal spot for plugging in laptops or other devices. During the day, this area is somewhere you want to overall avoid. Kids often skip class and sit around here with each other. It can easily fit four people. 

"This is it...?" Eridan asks. 

"Yup." You answer simply, taking a seat on the tiled floor and leaning against the stone wall. The other just stares at first, glancing around hesitantly but seats himself next to you at a reasonable distance. 

"So this is where you Stage Crew people hang out?" 

"Yeah, most of the time. Though if it's just me, KK, and GZ, we sit around the main staircases by the counseling office." You say, setting your backpack beside you. 

"Interestin'... I would have never thought this is where people spend time after school." 

"Yeah, no one does, which makes it perfect." 

"I suppose. Though now that we're sittin' here, I understand why you would like it. You guys never get caught up here?" 

"Nope. The janitors use the elevators cause they're fucking lazy." 

He snickers at your statement. "Well, it's only about three thirty, should we get started?" 

"Yeah, let's go. Just don't rush me, or I'll get really pissed off."

"Whatever. So what first?" 

"Math. I suck at it." 

"I'm sure I can help." 

You nod, biting your lip again as you unzip your bag to retrieve your text book and assignment sheet. You get a pencil and a calculator, propping your knees up so you can rest the book on them, then using the book as a hard surface to write on. Eridan scoots closer then, shoulder bumping against yours as he looks over. He has a strange scent, though it's not unpleasant. It's a mixture of saltwater and vanilla. It causes heat to rise to your cheeks, making your face feel warm. 

"So what are we workin' with here?" He questions, causing you to jerk a little in surprise when his warm breath ghosts across your cheek. 

"O-Oh, um, just some calculus stuff... and could you back off a bit? You're kind of in my personal space." You snap, glancing at him. 

You can see he looks frustrated, dramatically shifting over more to give you room. "There. Now look." He says, reaching out to grab your paper and pencil before you can react. He erases the previous problem you had done (you were pretty sure you had gotten it wrong anyway) and begins explaining what to do. He writes down the equations as he goes on, replacing your sloppy numbers and letters with neat handwriting. You listen closely, watching as he then grabs your calculator and types in an equation that would have been impossible to do in his head. He concludes his short lesson by circling his final answer, and you learned more in the minute of his explanation than you have in an entire year in the classroom. 

He sees your surprised look and pauses, "Do you need another example?" 

"Huh? Oh, no. That actually helped me out a whole lot, thanks..." You grumble quietly. You really hate admitting that sometimes you need help, but every once in awhile you have to damage your pride for it. Taking back the paper and pencil you begin to work on the next problem, using the method he had instructed. At first you would mess up in a few places, though he was quick to point out your mistakes and correct them. Sometimes they included remarks like 'how could you forget that number?' or 'the decimal goes here, dumbass'. But you hardly minded, just relieved that you feel good about turning in an assignment for the first time in years. 

\--

Though things were going well at first, by the time you had moved onto your final assignment, you were ready to punch Eridan in the face. You had history homework to do, where you had to take notes on a section from the book. You told him that you didn't need help on this because it was literally just copying shit down from the book, yet he still stared over your shoulder. You began to copy down a definition until he speaks up. 

"That isn't the definition." He states. 

You stop, grinding your teeth together in frustration. "Yes, it is." 

"Look," He argues, pointing to a paragraph, "That's the definition of the actual war, while this sentence is a beginnin' of a statement of why the war was important. There's a difference." 

"Why can't I just write both?" 

"Because it asks for definitions, not the importance. And it would be way too much to write." 

"Fine, Mr. Smartass." You let out a long sigh, erasing your previous answer to write down a new one. 

He puts his hands up in defense. "Hey, you're the one who was askin' for help, so that's exactly what I'm doin'." 

"For your information, you were the one who OFFERED to help. I just agreed. But yeah, I appreciate it, I guess. For now I just want you to shut up. I can handle this." 

"Fine." The other shrugs a shoulder, taking out his phone to answer some messages he had received. 

Finally able to resume working on your own, you begin scribbling down some useless facts about a dead guy. It was quiet until you had finally finished your last note, packing away all of your stuff back into the bag. Quickly glancing at the time you see it's about five.

"So... what now?" Eridan wonders aloud, looking over at you. 

"Not sure. Maybe we could get some food?" You ask a little hopeful, feeling your stomach growl as if on cue.

"What kind of food?"

"We could order some pizza and have it delivered here." You suggest. 

He makes a face, causing you to laugh. 

"Okay, so I take that as a no."

"No thanks, not really in the mood for some pizza." 

"Well then what's your suggestion, Your Highness?" You tried to sound insulting, but your lisp makes you sound ridiculous. As usual. 

"Well rehearsals don't start for over an hour, why don't we go somewhere to eat?" Eridan proposes. 

"Never thought of that before, but how is that any better than getting pizza? We'll probably just end up at some fast food place."

"To be honest I'm just bored of sittin' around here. I don't know how you do this every day, really. At least this way we get some entertainment." 

You admit that makes sense. Sitting around really was getting boring. "I actually like that plan. I don't have a car though..."

"That's fine, I do."

"Somehow that doesn't surprise me." 

He smirks and gets up, stretching his arms over his head so his limbs and back pop with relief. "I'll lead you out to my car." 

You nod, following him as you both make your way down the stairs. You both leave your bags, because you're sure that no one would bother to take them. Even if they did, all they would get is a bunch of text books and papers. At this point you wouldn't mind if someone did steal all of your stuff. Eridan exited the door you had came in, walking out towards the almost empty parking lot. At first you think he's going to approach one of the more beat up cars, ones that obviously belong to students. He takes his keys out from his pocket, pressing the unlock button. That's when you see the lights of a sleek black Mercedes flash as a response to his actions. Your jaw hangs open for a second, though then you quickly snap it shut with an audible click. 

"Holy shit..." You breathe out once you stand next to the car. 

He doesn't respond, instead just getting into the drivers seat and shutting the door behind him. You follow along and climb into the passengers seat. The gray interior looks almost new, the scent of leather on the inside. Eridan starts it, pulling out of the parking lot as the radio plays some popular station on low volume. 

"So where exactly are we goin'?" He asks. 

"The closest thing around here is McDonalds, so we can get something from there if that's fine with you. I don't mind where we go, as long as there's food." 

"Sounds good to me." And with that, he starts the short drive to the local McDonalds. Since it's around dinner time the place is buzzing, cars lining up at the drive through while other people and families make their way inside. Once he parks in an empty space, you both get out and head through the doors. You have to wait in line for a bit, and when you tell Eridan what you want he thankfully doesn't question your ridiculous amount of food. While he orders, you look around the brightly lit restaurant. The floors look shiny as if they've been cleaned thoroughly, yet your feet still stick to the ground as you walk. You make a slight face, swatting at a fly that's buzzing around your head. Before you can get your wallet out of your pocket, you see him hand over enough money to pay for the both of you. The girl behind the counter takes it, glancing between the both of you with a strange look on her face. You sputter a bit, glaring at him as he steps aside to wait for food. 

"What the hell?" You demand. 

"What?" He says back, acting innocent. 

"I could have paid for that myself. And that girl looked at us as if we were dating or some shit like that." You say a bit more loudly than intended. 

"What the fuck are you talkin' about? People pay for each other all the time, and she did not think we were dating. You're just bein' paranoid for no reason." 

"Even if she did, wouldn't that bother you?" You ask him. 

"No, not really. I mean, if they thought I was datin' YOU it would be a bit awkward. But datin' a guy in general, no." 

Now you're really confused. "So you're gay?" 

"Don't be stupid, of course not. I have dated a girl before, which makes me bi." He says so casually, not even a hint of hesitation. 

That's when your food is handed to Eridan and he's making his way to one of the tables, dodging a couple kids that are running around without adult supervision. You scowl at them before taking a seat across from him. He starts sorting out the food, sliding yours across the table. You waste no time in opening it all up, tearing into a burger. 

"So now you know about my sexuality, how about you tell me yours?" The other suddenly pipes up, eating a small fry. 

You nearly choke on your food. Wow, how smooth. You manage to swallow it down and clear your throat before speaking. "Why do you want to know?" 

"Curiosity." 

You purse your lips together, mismatched eyes staring down at your sandwich. "I don't care, honestly." 

"You don't care?" 

"Yeah. I mean, it doesn't bother me whether I'm dating a boy or girl." You explain. 

He nodded, "Well, do you like anyone then? I see you hang around that one girl. Aradia, right? I hear Fef talk about her a lot."

"We're not dating." You hiss out at him, stomach starting to feel uneasy. 

"That's not what I asked. But by your reaction I can safely assume you want to date her." His mouth twitches up in another smirk. 

"Fuck you, I don't know what the hell's going on between me and AA. I mean yeah, it would be great if we started dating but..." 

"But?" 

You pause for a second. Why were you telling Eridan these things? The only person you ever really talk to is KK, you trust him the most. Yet for some reason the thought of sharing these things with someone else was... pretty nice. "Sometimes I feel like it wouldn't be right, that's all... What about you? Weren't you and FF dating once?" You quickly change the subject. 

This time it's his turn to feel uncomfortable. "Yeah, we did. She broke it off though." 

"What did you do?" 

"All she said was that she felt more comfortable bein' friends is all, so we went back to that." Eridan says, chewing another fry thoughtfully. 

"But you still like her." It wasn't a question, but a statement. It was obvious. 

He runs a hand through his purple streaked hair. "You could say that some feelin's remain, yeah. Though I don't want to fuck anythin' up, so I'm perfectly content like this." 

"That's... actually really nice of you." You observe, "Then how come people think you're a douche for that?" 

"High school rumors. They all thought I was the one who broke up with her. I don't mind the gossip though, as long as we're still friends." 

Eridan's sincerity actually caused you to smile a bit, and you quickly take another bite to hide it. He's really not as bad as you thought. He can be annoying and stupid at times, but really anyone can. You swallow your food and just end up smiling again, which soon turns into immature snickers. "Wow, we're pretty pathetic, aren't we?" You say, desperately trying to hold back a grin. 

"Yeah, I guess we are..." He agrees, starting to snicker along with you. People started to stare as they grew progressively louder, but neither you or Eridan really cared at that moment. 

\--

The two of you finished your meals rather quickly, finding yourselves back in Eridan's car. The ride back was comfortable, the radio up at a louder volume. While you stayed mostly quiet, you could hear when a song interested him as he hummed and sang along. It was a short drive, and you find yourself walking back into the school in under fifteen minutes. It's almost six thirty, so the whole place is buzzing with activity as rehearsals are about to begin. You see AA and FF sitting at a table together, and you start approaching them with Eridan in step next to you. Though your eyebrows pull together in confusion when you get closer. It looks like they're holding hands? Well they are best friends, it's not to strange that they would-

Feferi giggles and leans over, kissing Aradia's cheek. 

Eridan must have seen it at the same time you had, because you both stop and freeze up. You're shocked, when the hell did that happen? Though when you turn to ask him, he's gone. You spin around, catching him turning a corner and storming down one of the hallways, shoulder slumped and fists clenched tightly at his sides.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the abrupt ending, but the next chapter will pick up from here.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no reasonable excuse for why this is so late. I've just been really lazy. Yet I finally got around to writing this, so I hope it's still enjoyable. 
> 
> Eridan and Sollux are being moody teenagers, and feelings jams will ensue :)

Your name is Sollux Captor, and you think it's about time for a recap. 

To be honest, you're not really sure what just happened, but Eridan has stormed off to leave you standing in the middle of the cafeteria like an idiot. Your arms hang loosely at your sides, eyes wide behind your glasses. So Aradia and Feferi are together? But that doesn't make any sense. Surely AA would have talked to you about something like that, right? She should have texted you or tried to call you-

Your thought process suddenly halts, scrambling to get your phone out of your pocket so quickly it nearly tumbles out of your hand. Your screen comes to life, lighting up and revealing you have multiple unread messages. Typing in your passcode, you quickly go to view them. One is from KK, reading 'WHERE ARE YOU ASSHOLE?' received around 3:15 when you were meeting up with Eridan. Though the messages from Aradia are the only ones you're interested in. 

_Sollux, are you at the school? I would like to meet up and discuss something important._

_Sollux?_

_We really need to talk, I'm sure you would like to know this._

_Where are you?_

_Well, I'm not exactly sure where you are and what you're doing, but I guess I will have to talk to you later. I just hope you're not too surprised._

The last message was sent around five, the time when you and Eridan were about to leave to eat. A heavy feeling of guilt sinks right down from your chest to deep within your stomach. You almost feel sick. You swallow the lump in your throat, pocketing your phone again before making your way over to the table where the girls are sitting. 

Feferi glances up when she notices your presence, smile always present on her face. "Hi!" She greets. 

You don't answer, completely ignoring her as you stare right at Aradia, fists clenching. Almost immediately she seems to understand what you wanted. 

"Um, Feferi? Do you mind if I talk to Sollux for a minute?" She asks in that sweet voice. 

Out of the corner of your eye you see FF's smile falter, realizing the situation. "Oh, of course! I need to get ready for rehearsals anyway. Y'know, make up and stuff." The girl agrees, letting go of AA's hand and hopping up from her chair. "I'll see you later then." She promises, giving a little wave before skipping off towards the chorus room. 

You watch after her for a second before sitting in the chair she had been in, not ready to look directly at Aradia yet. "So... you and FF, huh?" You ask quietly.

"Yeah..." She agrees, obviously trying to find words to say as she tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, "I tried to get a hold of you to talk about it, but you never answered."

"Yeah, I just now realized that." You grumble in response. 

"Are you angry?" She asks suddenly, brown eyes scanning your face. 

Your fists clench even tighter, nails digging into your palms. How are you supposed to answer that? Of course you're not angry, if AA is with someone that makes her happy then that should be more than enough for you. So since that's obviously not the case, there is still something you need to talk about. You let out a long sigh, expression softening. "No..." You answer honestly. 

She looks relieved, putting a hand over her chest. "G-Good, it just all happened so suddenly! I should have come to you but-"

"How did this even happen?" You cut her off, wanting to get straight to the point as soon as possible. "I thought you were... straight?" 

"I never said that." 

"You never told me."

"You never asked."

You purse your lips together at her words, suddenly feeling more frustrated with yourself than anything else. "I just assumed..." 

Aradia sighs also, shaking her head. "You always assume, Sollux. You never ask about anything. It's just first impressions and whatever you happen to witness. This is exactly what I mean the other day about how you don't actually get to know people" She pauses, as if thinking about what to say next, "I know you like me."

The statement almost makes your heart stop, the same heavy feeling in your stomach again. "You do?" You choke out. 

"Yes, but I also know something that I think you don't."

This catches your attention, and you finally look in her direction to hear her explanation. 

"I know you like me, but I don't think it's in that way. I've been your friend for a long time, right? So I know you a lot better than most people, maybe even better than Karkat does." She begins, starting to twirl a piece of hair on her index finger, "You always put up a wall, and very few people get passed it. So what I'm trying to say is, I think you "like" me because you've never given anyone else a chance." She concludes, dropping her hands back into her lap and looking at you expectantly. 

Your lips pull up into a sneer, using all your power to not visibly wince at how right she is. She's always right. You hate letting new people in, afraid they'll somehow turn against you. It's always been a fear of yours. 

"Though I must say, I think you're changing." She suddenly continues, "You're starting to open up more."

"How do you know that?"

"I noticed you walked in with Eridan. I assumed at that moment that the reason you didn't answer me was because you were with him." AA smiles. 

"Yeah, uh, he helped me with my homework and then we went to get something to eat." You tell her. 

"Sounds romantic." She comments. 

"Shut up," You immediately grunt back, "it wasn't anything like that." 

The girl puts her hands up in a gesture to tell you to calm down, "I'm just teasing you! Gosh, so defensive. I thought you couldn't stand him? That he was a major douche?" 

"He is, that hasn't changed at all."

"And yet you're letting him help you with your homework and take you out for dinner?" She wasn't even smiling anymore, instead just smirking. 

You grind your teeth together, frowning as you think of an answer. "It's still not like that." 

"Sollux, we haven't even gone out to eat together. You always bring along Karkat or Gamzee if we do. So obviously you've gotten really close to him in a short amount of time." Aradia states. 

"That's kind of how I feel about you and FF. I'm still curious on how you even got together." 

You see red dust across her cheeks, and even though you agreed with her earlier deduction you can't help but feel a pang of jealousy because you've never caused her to do that. "I'm still surprised too. Feferi and I have been friends for a long time, but just within the last few months we've gotten a lot closer. Sleeping over at each others houses, talking, the typical things. Last night I was with her and I just accidentally spilled my feelings, thinking she'd just want to stay friends. But I was pleasantly surprised to find out she felt the same way..." At this point her whole face was red as she smiled widely, looking down at her hands. 

The smile was contagious, and you feel the corners of your mouth pull up to copy it. "That sounds nice, I'm glad you're happy." You tell her truthfully. 

Her smile turns into a grin. "Thank you. I hope you have the same luck with Eridan." 

"I already told you it's not like-!" 

"Blah blah blah~" She cuts off, rolling her eyes and rising up from her chair, "Give me a break, I can see what's going on." She laughs at your annoyed expression, pushing her limits by leaning down to plant a big wet kiss on your cheek. 

You scowl, immediately rubbing your cheek and the red lipstick she left behind. "Whatever." You grumble back to her. 

"Where is he anyway?" 

"I dunno, he stormed off..." You say, starting to get worried again. 

"I see... you should probably go find him, since rehearsals are starting soon." 

"I'm sure he'll turn up." You assure. 

She seems skeptical but doesn't urge you any further. The girl then announces she's going to go backstage and prepare the sets with the others. You nod, staying back to sit with yourself for a few minutes. You really hope Eridan shows up soon. 

\--

After awhile you find yourself sitting backstage as you watch the actors chat and get ready to practice. You check your phone, the time reading 6:40. How come they haven't started yet? KK is talking on headset, you can't hear what he's saying, but you swear you see him roll his eyes and smile in response to what someone said. Probably John. You're starting to get impatient, so you get up and walk over to him.

"Hey KK, why haven't we started yet?"

The boy looks up from the notes he was writing in his notebook. "Some dumbass hasn't showed up yet, and apparently we can't start without them."

You tense up a bit, knowing exactly who it is, yet you feel the need to ask anyway. "Is it Eridan?" 

"Yeah, no shit. Who else would it be? If it were anyone else they wouldn't give a fuck." 

You stay silent for a second, wondering where he could be. Karkat notices your lack of a sarcastic remark. "Wait a minute, did something happen? Do you know where he is?" 

"I'm not too sure to be honest. I have an idea though." 

"Then what the hell are you waiting for? I'd like to get home some time before midnight, thank you." 

"Shut up, just keep flirting with John while I go search for him." 

The shorter snarls at your comment but does not retort. Success. You open one of the heavy doors that leads out to the hallway, met with bright light in contrast to the dark stage. You shove your hands into your jean pockets, striding down the hallway to your destination. 

"Sollux, wait!" You hear a female voice behind you. 

You immediately spin around to see Feferi, eyes looking panicked as she quickly approaches you. "Are you searching for Eridan? I've been looking but I can't find him anywhere." She explains, wringing her fingers. 

"Yeah calm down, I was just about to go look." You say, a little confused by how much worry is on her features. 

"Good, because I have to go rehearse a song and I'm already late! I'm just worried because I know he I know he saw me and Aradia before I had time to explain. When you find him will you try to talk to him? Just until I get a chance to? I really have to go-" 

"What am I supposed to tell him?" You quickly ask, desperate for an answer as she goes past you towards the auditorium. 

"You'll figure it out, I just know it!" She shouts back, long hair flowing behind her as she runs off. 

You stay still for a second, trying to register what the hell's going on. So now that you've been "friends" with him for almost two days you're suddenly responsible for everything he does? What a bunch of bullshit. But FF looked really worried, and you'd be lying to yourself if you said you weren't either. So you sigh, shaking your head as you begin to walk down the hallway again. You take a quick peek in the chorus room, seeing a couple actors frantically trying to get ready because of their late arrival. Thankfully they don't seem to notice you, and you don't see any sign of Eridan. As you continue on you mentally scold yourself. He's stupid, but not so stupid that he'd hide somewhere as obvious as that. As you walk further away from the auditorium, the muffled sounds of activity slowly fade away, the only sounds being your footsteps on the floor and hum of electricity throughout the building. It felt kind of eerie, especially since there's no more teachers or janitors roaming the building. 

You go to check the library, but the doors are locked and all the lights are off. He's definitely not in there then. You wander down a couple more halls until you reach the doors leading to the staircase. You slowly ascend the stairs, reaching the clearing you had been sitting in earlier that day. 

And that's where you find him, leaned against the wall, arms wrapped around his knees, pulling them tightly to his chest as he rests his forehead against them. 

You frown, approaching him with caution. "Eridan...?"

He doesn't look up, but you can see his muscles tense after you call out to him. "Go away..." He responds, voice muffled. 

You roll your eyes, ignoring him before taking a seat beside him. "Everyone's waiting for you to show up and yet you're sulking in here. Have some consideration." You tell him. 

"I don't want to go."

You bite your lip, trying to think of what to say. "FF sent me here to talk to you. She was worried."

This catches his attention, and he slowly lifts his head up from his knees to look in your direction. His eyes are red and glassy, the lenses of his glasses fogged up a bit also. His face seems dry, so you assume he's been trying not to cry. "She was...?" He asks quietly, wiping his nose with his sleeve. 

You simply stare at him for a second. Had he seriously been that upset? You want to laugh at how pathetic that is, yet something inside you just can't. For some reason it was even making you a little sad when you realize he's more upset by this situation than you are. "Yeah..." You answer, "were you crying?" 

The boys eyes widen at the sudden question, taking off his glasses to rub at his eyes with his hand. "Fuck you, I was not." He defends, then using his hands to clean his glasses off by using his shirt, yet he doesn't put them back on yet. 

"Why...? I mean, I was kind of upset too but..." 

He frowns, looking back down at his knees again. "Earlier when we were talkin' about how I wasn't in a relationship with her anymore, I said I was gettin' over it, but now I'm not so sure... I still like her a lot more than I should." Eridan explains to you. At this point you realize you don't need to say anything else, just to shut up and listen to what he has to say. It takes him a minute before he continues. "I pretty much grew up with Fef, and we've been best friends for as long as I can remember. So when we were together I was honestly really happy. But it fuckin' sucked when I figured out she wasn't as happy as I was. Yet she still wanted to be friends and I agreed, yet now I regret it. I should have just stopped hangin' out with her all together. I bet that would have made her even happier. Now she has this new girlfriend, and I it just makes me feel awful that I wasn't able to make her smile like that..." He finally finishes, tone getting angrier by the end. Though it's obvious he's not angry at Feferi, you, or even Aradia. He's mad at himself, and you honestly don't understand why. 

"I don't think you get it." You state. 

He looks back at you, blue eyes still a little glassy and he places his glasses back on his nose. "What?" 

"That's not what FF means at all by this. Just because she's with someone else now doesn't mean she isn't happy with you, it doesn't even mean she's moved on either." You lisp, "She actually looked really worried. Which I don't know why, since you're just curled up in here sniffling like a little girl. Maybe you should try talking to her before you jump to ridiculous conclusions." You tell him, crossing your arms over your chest. 

His eyebrows pull together as if he's thinking it over. "But aren't you upset about Ara bein' with her?" He questions. 

You sigh, "No. As long as she's happy I don't care. I'm pretty sure you also said something similar to that when talking about you and FF's friendship. Why does that suddenly not apply now? If she really didn't like being around you she would have ditched you a long time ago."

Eridan finally starts to get it, guilt setting in, replacing the anger and sadness. "You're right."

"Of course I'm right," You retort and stand, approaching the stairs, "now quit being a loser and go back to rehearsals. If I come back without you KK is going to be pissed." 

You start to descend the stairs when you see him get up, yet he follows you at a sluggish pace. You groan. 

"Jesus fucking Christ, come on ED." 

He suddenly stops, eyes wide and he blinks. "Did you just call me ED?" 

You feel heat start to rise to your cheeks. You did just call him that, without even thinking about it either. "Yeah, I guess I did." 

"I thought the two letter nicknames were only for your closest friends? They're kind of lame, by the way." Eridan says, catching up to you by hopping down a couple steps. 

"They are not! The way you cut everyone's names in half is even worse." You bicker back. 

"But yours don't even make sense!" The boy argues, laughing as you continue to defend your nicknames. And soon you find yourself starting to snicker as he makes up lame reasons to explain why his are somehow superior, walking side by side as you go back to the stage. 

How does this fucker always manage to make you feel so much better?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this was kind of boring aaahhh v.v Next chapter is completely dedicated to backstage and the theater! It'll be a lot of fun to write :) Until next time~


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hELLO *trips over own feet and starts to cry* I'm soooo sorry for this! I have valid excuses for why I am so late on updating this though.  
> School started between the last update and this one, and I'm literally just drowning in homework. But alas I try to write as much as I can (I've had this chapter done for weeks but I just got around to typing it up).  
> But I have exciting news! As you all know I am actually in stage crew, and recently I have gotten the opportunity to train and be a Stage Manager! I don't know if that's actually going to happen or not, but I'm excited for the opportunity. 
> 
> So enough babbling, enjoy dumb dumbs running around getting to know the backstage! vuv Drama free chapter, just cuties developing feelings.

Your name is Sollux Captor, and things seem to be a lot different lately. 

Yet the frustrating thing is, you can't figure out whether the change is necessarily good or bad... It's been almost a week since "the incident", and Eridan's attitude has either improved or made a turn for the worst, if that's at all possible. 

You remember that rehearsal very clearly, the reason for that being it was an absolute disaster and you wish you had never witnessed it in the first place. Once you had finally convinced him to grow the fuck up and get back to rehearsals, it didn't take long before you started to regret it. You should have just let him sit there, or even better, go home. He seemed fine as he exited the stairwell, but grew more and more nervous the closer he got to the auditorium. Both the actors and techies were waiting for him to return, groaning a chorus of 'finally' and about time' as he entered. You stayed back for a few seconds, just to be safe. You really didn't want to get suspicious or think you were the reason for his delay. Instead you peeked through the small window on the door, observing as he greeted them with an awkward wave when approaching center stage. Feferi followed close behind, scanning around in search for you before devoting her attention to the director. 

That's when you decided to enter, quietly slipping through the door and weaving through the crowd to stand in the shadow of the leg curtain, watching from the side. FF wasn't as focused on the instructions as usual, obviously eager to talk to Eridan privately. She fidgeted with her fingers and constantly glanced towards him in anticipation, though she understood that right now their priorities were to practice. 

The scene started where Maria and Tony meet on the balcony after the school dance, singing and falling in love or whatever the fuck it was supposed to be. Eridan went through his song and lines easily, voice nice and clear. For a minute you thought he was going to be fine, but then the kissing scene... you were so wrong. What an absolute nightmare. 

He reached out to take her hands, yet the eye contact was very awkward and unfocused. He kept glancing away or wanting to turn his head. She noticed, but continued on with her lines to keep it going. You remember reading the scrip with KK. The kiss was supposed to be slow and passionate, ending when Maria's parents would call her back inside from the balcony. 

Eridan did the exact opposite. 

He didn't even look at her, squeezing his eyes shut and diving in for the most unromantic kiss you have ever seen. 

You audibly groaned, covering your face to hide the second hand embarrassment. Feferi was shocked also, completely missing her next line as she just stared blankly at the boy in front of her. Thankfully there was a loud 'cut!' declared from the director, causing them both to step away from each other. Eridan got chewed out pretty badly (as expected) while FF was mostly left alone. By that point you couldn't stand watching anymore. You sighed and walked past Karkat out into the hall leading to the cafeteria. You managed to distract yourself until rehearsals were over, messing around on your phone to kill time. The actors began filing out of the auditorium towards the exit, conversation between each other at a minimal. Naturally you kept an eye out for the pair, who eventually could be seen leaving a significant amount of time later. Whatever Feferi had said to him must have worked, because he seemed a bit distant and withdrawn. He didn't notice you (or purposely avoided you, both seemed possible) and walked passed her, hands in his pockets as he walked into the dimly lit parking lot. 

You silent observe FF as she watched after him, letting out a quiet sigh and waiting until he was almost completely out of sight before hanging her head and exiting through the double doors. 

\--

Now, back to the present. 

It's a Friday afternoon, a constant buzz throughout the classroom about plans for the weekend. Your'e texting KK about his, but he responds back saying that he's going to be studying for an important test with GZ in the library after school. You ask if you can join, but he responds with this: 

_No, you're just going to distract us. Besides, you don't you have a boyfriend that needs tending to? I haven't seen you make eye contact with each other for like three days, what's the problem?_

You scoff at that, tossing your phone onto the desk with a noisy clatter. What a ridiculous thing to say...

Okay, but the reason that annoys you is because he's partially right. Not the boyfriend thing of course (absolute bullshit) but the fact that you've barely seen each other for awhile. Maybe a weird 'hey' in the hallway once in awhile if you're lucky. This doesn't mean you haven't been looking out for him though. You watch how interacts with FF and his other friends at the lunch table. He's been quieter, only joining in on conversation if it involves him directly. Otherwise he just sits there, slowly eating his food as he lets Feferi do all the talking. But for some reason the others didn't even notice, and that's what really irritates you. It was so obvious!

You didn't say anything, instead just sitting there and grinding your teeth together in frustration. He must have gotten over the awkward performance thing though, because during the next few rehearsals his acting was normal. Even though he hadn't shown up after school in awhile, you made an effort to sit by the staircase and get your homework done. Your grades were slowly getting better too, which encourages you to finish the assignments and make sure the answers are right. 

Though you can't help but be relieved that it's only one more rehearsal and then you're free for the weekend. Two days dedicated to video games and sleeping. The electric drone of the bell sounded, the cue for students to start scrambling down the halls and reunite with friends. After a quick stop to your locker, you made the long and complicated loop through the hallways to reach the staircase (avoiding teacher and janitors at all costs). 

To your surprise, Eridan was already there, sitting on one of the bottom steps and staring down at his hands as he fidgeted. He looked normal as ever, grey skinny jeans (with a grey scarf to match) and a white shirt, hair slicked back to perfection. Noticing your presence, he looked up and offered a smile. 

"Hey, Sol." He greeted. 

"Hey...?" You say back, dropping your bag onto the floor to relieve your shoulders. "What are you doing here?" 

"Well honestly I was goin' to hang out and talk with you for a bit, but now that I'm actually here I don't know what to say." 

You roll your eyes and take a seat next to him on the step. "You sound so dramatic. You don't have anything to say to me, really. But the way you've been acting is pretty horrid. Worse than before." 

"Worse? I thought I was doin' everyone a fuckin' favor by not gettin' in the way so much."

What? "Favor? I don't know what you're going on about, but you've been out of it lately. Some people may start to worry." 

"That's hard to believe." He muttered. 

"I'm not kidding. God, get over yourself. Believe me on this, since you never do about anything else." You blurt out, adjusting your glasses to glare at him. He doesn't say anything, so you reluctantly mumble out a 'sorry'.

"I didn't mean to be so distant. Fef pulled me aside and asked why I was so hurt by this, and I ended up spillin' my guts to her, like I always do. Then all she said was 'We didn't have a chance. I like you, but I don't like you that much, which is why we should have never attempted dating in the first place'". He concluded.

You visibly flinch. Ouch... he must have felt pretty bad after that, since he had just finished talking about how happy he was when they were together. The breakup was already a stab in the chest, but that statement was just grabbing the knife and twisting it. 

"That was kind of harsh... but did she say anything else? Or was that it?" 

"She said some things that made it not so bad, I guess. I'm still tryin' to think the whole thing over tough." 

You don't respond, causing a silence because you expected him to elaborate. "Like...?" You urged. 

"It's not important, really." He said after having a silent debate with himself. 

Disappointed, you manage to hold back a groan. "Fine, if you say so. But if that's all you wanted to say to me you can go home now if you want-" 

"I actually had another reason for showin' up, Sol."

"Really? What a surprise." 

He ignores your sarcastic comment, unfortunately. "Will you show me around the stage. But not like all the borin' stuff that I already know about, I mean the technical aspect. Y'know, what you and the techies do to help the show run."

"You actually want to know what goes on backstage?" You question, "I mean, it's not that interesting. I didn't think you would care." 

"There has to be some reason you all enjoy it, right? I'm curious is all. It doesn't have to be a huge production, just a tour." 

A tour is probably the last thing you want to do right now, but he's looking at you expectantly and eventually you give in. "I'll show you around... you're probably going to be disappointed though, it's probably not as fantastic as you're expecting."

"How do you know? I might be pleasantly surprised." 

You stay quiet, nodding and walking with him until reaching the stage. You enter through the double doors on the side that leads to the audience section. All the lights are turned off, covering the entire room in darkness. Squinting, you try to find your way over to the familiar light board with minimal light. You know the buttons and keys by heart, fingers brushing over them until finding the correct ones. You push them in a certain order, relieved when both the audience section and stage are finally visible. 

"So that's how it's done..." You hear from behind. You turn around to see Eridan staring at you with a dumb look on his face. 

"Of course that's how it's done. How did you think we did it? By flipping a light switch?"

"Maybe..."

You want to turn away and give a dramatic eye roll, but hold back a snicker of amusement instead. "You would think that." 

"I told you I don't know anythin' about this shit, that's why I was interested in findin' out." He defended himself. 

"That's common sense though, don't tell me you lack that too. Besides, an auditorium of this size requires more advanced technical equipment."

"Can you show me how some of it works?"

"Later. Right now I'll show you what we do backstage." You answer, walking down the aisle to hoist yourself up onto the stage. Eridan jogs to catch up, following you across to side. 

"So you're tellin' me you guys don't just sit back here an wait to move stuff? There's more?" 

You glare at him again, "A lot more." 

He nods, staying quiet as you lead him around a couple props. You feel a small tug on the back of your shirt, causing you to stop and look back at him. 

"Is that the balcony we have to stand on for Tonight?" He asks, looking up at the tall structure. It's supported by dark green bars, reaching a decent height with thick boards to stand on. You honestly think it looks really shitty and unsturdy, but KK claimed it wasn't supposed to look nice because it's a "city balcony". Bullshit. 

"Yeah, that's it. Nervous?" 

"I'd be lyin' if I said I wasn't." 

You smirk, "You should feel lucky, we have to push it while FF's standing on it." 

You see his eyes widen behind his glasses at that, causing you to let out a lugh. 

"I know you guys are supposed to be professionals and everythin'," He continues, "but I could not trust you with that if it were me." 

"We're far from professionals. I wouldn't trust the others to do it if I were up there." You respond dully as confused stuttering noises burst from his mouth. You hush him, weaving through more objects. There's no one around to make any unnecessary noise or chatter, just the way you like it. Just your own footsteps that echo around in the wide empty space. There are a lot of other props sitting out, like a wooden piece labeled Docs Interior/Exterior. It provides a door that actors use to walk in and out of the scene with. It was just finished being painted a few days ago. It goes along with an old fashioned juke box, surrounded by multiple chairs and tables. 

You walk around it, approaching Karkat's desk that's still messily cluttered with papers and food wrappers. You take a seat in the chair, clicking on a light that illuminates just enough to be able to see that papers in front of you. A light that was too bright would be noticeable from the audience. 

"Isn't this where Kar usually sits?" Eridan asks, picking up a paper curiously. 

You quickly snatch it back, making sure it's in the same exact place on the desk before he picked it up. "Yeah. Since he's stage manage he has to read the script while you act it out, giving specific cues to sound and light board. Sometimes to others backstage too, even if they're already supposed to know what to do." 

"That sounds pretty complicated." He says. 

You nod, "He has a bunch of other shit to do along with that, but I don't really feel like going into too much detail. 

"Fair enough. How does he keep up with it?" 

"The headsets help out a lot." You answer, reaching over to pick them up. "Want to give it a try?" 

He immediately perks up, "Really?" 

"Why not? Here." You hand them over to him and step aside to let him sit. His eyes are still wide as if this was the greatest opportunity he had ever received. 

"I'll go to the other side of the stage and use that one. When you hear me come through just press the button behind you to respond." 

"I got it I got it, just go already." He rushed, watching you walk off to the other side. 

Okay, that was kind of... nice seeing him happy and excited like that. Which is pretty stupid to think, but lately that seems to be a very rare occurrence. And before that it was usually with the whole obnoxious and cocky attitude. You sigh, shaking your head as your cheeks heat up slightly. 

Upon reaching the other headset, it's obvious Gamzee is here often. There's a few candy wrappers and Faygo bottles laying around, the thick scent of sugar in the air. You ignore the mess for now, putting the headphones over your ears and pressing the button. "ED? Can you hear me?" You speak into the mic quietly. For a second you think he forgot where the button is, but his loud voice suddenly crackles through. 

"Yeah I can hear ya, Sol."

You wince, "Hey dumbass, keep your voice down, these are made so you can talk quietly and communicate while the performance is going on." 

"Oh, right, sorry." He replies, voice lower and at a much more comfortable level. 

"Yeah. So, this is how we keep track during the show. The more you know." 

"Hey Sol, did you know that Kar writes notes on his script?" Eridan pipes up, disregarding your previous statement. 

"We all do-Wait, are you going through his stuff? I thought I indirectly made it clear to keep everything exactly where it is! If KK finds out I let you fuck around with his stuff-"

"Now wait just a fuckin' second," He cuts you off, "he's crossed out my name and put Dickprince instead. Man, what a jerk..." The boy grumbles angrily and you can hear the sound of papers being slapped down onto the desk. 

This causes you to burst out a laugh. Wow, what a drama queen. "Oh don't be so offended, he does that to almost everyone. It keeps him occupied." 

"What a dork."

"Yeah, I know." 

"But I have a question about this-"

"How could you possibly how a question about the insult KK has decided to replace your name with?" You question, raising an eyebrow. 

"Is he implyin' that I AM a dick? Or that I get a lot of dick? There's a big difference here." 

"It's a proven fact that you're a dick, and you probably couldn't get any even if you tried." You snark back to his stupid question. 

"I wouldn't be so sure about that, I bet a lot of people would be willin' to volunteer...~" He pipes up, a suggestive tone in his voice. You can practically see him wiggling his stupid eyebrows. 

"As if...!" You snap, cheeks heating up again. 

You hear him start to laugh with a few unfinished sentences in between. "Fuck, that was funny. I think your voice squeaked. Don't flatter yourself, Sol." 

"Oh shut your mouth! I was not flattering myself!" 

He continues to laugh but you just disconnect from the conversation. Did he seriously just flirt with you? Ugh, what a tool. You huff and rise to your feet, setting the headphones back in their previous location. You jog over to the other side of the stage, just in time to see Eridan calming down from his laughing fit. He starts trying to organize the mess he had made on Karkat's desk. 

"Just leave it, I'll blame it on VK later." 

"Good idea." He agrees, leaving it alone. "Where to next?" 

"You wanna see the prop room?" 

He scoffs, "What's cool about old props?" 

"I don't know, you may be surprised." You say, quoting him from earlier. 

He sighs and shrugs, adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose. "Fine, lead the way."

Following his instructions, you weave back through the tables and chairs again to the back. You see the narrow passage that actors and techies use to pass from stage left to stage right. It's the darkest area of the whole stage, causing many to trip and fall during showtime (which is actually hilarious). It has an eerie silence at the moment, and you still walk cautiously to not fall over any objects. Eridan stays close behind and you think you hear him stumble before catching himself and pretending like it never happened. What a loser. 

Emerging on the other side, the dull light you turned on by Gamzee's station was enough to weave through the props there also (pretty much the same as the other side, except this one had a bedroom and a cash register). You pass them quickly and go over to a pair of double doors. They blend in almost completely with the black walls, the only way they're revealed is because of the silver door handles. You grab one, swinging the door open and groping the wall for a light switch. You switch it, blinking and squinting so your eyes can adjust to the sudden bright light. You step inside and let Eridan come in after you. 

"Wow..." He breathed out, observing the abandoned costumes and props that lined shelves and covered the floor. 

"We hang onto this stuff because the directors say we should keep it all in case we can use it again, to save money. But in reality, most of this stuff has been untouched for years." You explain, yet you don't really think he's listening to you. 

Instead he just nod absently, rifling through some stuff on a shelf. He suddenly gasps, holding up a small object with his fingers. "I remember this!" 

"What is it?" You ask, coming up behind him to see. He spins around, causing him to be a little close for comfort, but it's obvious that that's the last thing on his mind. 

"This is the ring I used when I got the lead of Victor in Corpse Bride! Do you remember that, Sol? That was the first lead part I ever got with Fef, durin' sophomore year." 

You do remember that, very well actually. It was the fall play, performed only one time in a weekend of October. Not very many people showed up, only parents and family that wanted to see their kids perform. It wasn't terrible, but not great either. You were still working out the controls of the light board, and it was KK's first year of being stage manager also. The whole thing was hectic, but somehow you do remember Eridan on stage with FF, stuttering out his lines and performing the songs. He really has improved a lot since then. 

"Yeah, I remember. I didn't know that was you and FF at the time though." You answer, looking down at the ring in his hands. 

He hums and nods, staring down at the ring also. For a second his eyes kind of glaze over, as if he's remembering more and more about that time. "That was really fun..." He says quietly, "Can I keep it? For memories." 

You have no idea why he would want to keep such a dirty old thing, but somehow you understand that after the recent development with Feferi that he might want to keep it. 

It kind of irritates you, though you're not a complete asshole. "Take anything you want, no one uses this stuff anyway." 

"I probably would have taken it even if you said no." He answers truthfully then chuckles. 

"Then why would you even ask me?" 

"Just wanted to see how you would react. I was expectin' an outburst or somethin'." The boy retorts, smirking when you scowl in frustration. 

"Why would I do that? I don't care, it's just a stupid ring."

"I dunno Sol, you get pretty sensitive when it comes to me and Fef." He teases further, pushing his luck. 

"I do not, that's stupid..." You defend. 

"Whatever you say." He concluded, putting the ring in his pocket. He would have put it on his finger, but they're all covered with other rings already. 

He goes back to searching, finding a few more props from the same musical (like the headpiece from FF's costume) and a couple set pieces. You find a couple together from last years musical, Legally Blonde. He only played a minor character, yet you both laughed and made fun of it while exchanging stories from the time. The two of you spent a lot more time in there than you had originally planned. Though as you continues towards the back, most of it was so old you don't even remember. Eventually you give up. 

Eridan looks back at the mess that was made, snickering. "That was surely an adventure." 

"Yeah," You agree, "I told you there's a lot more stuff in here than you thought. Want to go up to the Fly?" 

"What's that?" 

"I'll show you." You tell him, exiting the prop room and turning off the lights. 

You cross to the other side of the stage, approaching a dark corner that many think is nothing. You squint, finally locating a gray switch. When turning it on, a small yellow bulb slowly turns on, lighting up a narrow spiral staircase. You walk up the first couple steps, the sound of metal ringing throughout the stage. There's hesitation, but eventually you hear him follows after you. You reach the top, looking out over the small railing to the rest of the stage. 

"Okay, you can not tell ANYONE that I let you up here, got it? Only KK and EQ are allowed up here." 

"Then why would you bring me here in the first place?" He asks, suddenly nervous and looking around. 

"Because, this is one of my favorite places backstage..." You answer quietly, resting your arms against the railing. 

Eridan nods. "So this is where they pull the curtains closed and stuff?" He approaches the ropes as he speaks, lightly touching one. "They look really heavy." 

"They are, which is why EQ works up here. It requires a bunch of upper body strength, and he's really strong, so it works out." 

"What happens if you aren't strong enough?"

"You get pulled up into the air." You answer easily, holding back a laugh. "That happened to KK when he had to fill in for EQ once. He got pulled up like five feet in and air and it took three of us to reach up and pull him down. He kept kicking and screaming, it was pretty much the funniest thing I've ever seen. We constantly tease him about it."

ED laughs at the story also, "That sounds great, I wish I was there to see that." 

You agree, turning back to sit and dangle your legs off the side. You're about twenty feet up, but it doesn't really bother you. Looking back on it, you would have worked Fly in a heartbeat, yet your scrawny arms can barely lift your own backpack let alone maintain giant curtains. You notice the other is quiet too, observing. The dim lights make your skin glow a strange yellow and awkwardly reflects off the lenses of your glasses. It's nice though, you can see everything from up here. Equius must feel pretty lucky that he's able to come up here whenever he wants, especially when the others are being annoying. 

"I think I underestimated you guys. I always thought it was pretty stupid that people would actually want to stay after school and hang around an empty stage, but now I see it's actually really interestin'."

"Yeah, and I've been saving the best for last." You say, hopping up from your sitting position, "It's usually everyone's favorite part about stage." 

"Let's see it then."

You walk down the stairs quickly, flipping off the light once you had both reached the bottom. Though instead of continuing, you pause to look at the metal balcony thoughtfully. "Hey, before we get to that, want to help me push this out real quick? I want to see something." 

He sighs dramatically yet reluctantly gets behind it with you. Clutching the bars the bars tightly, you both push with enough force to get it moving across the floor. The wheels creak and groan. You make a mental note to remind someone to oil them so they aren't distracting during the performance. It's not too heavy (though a couple extra hands would be helpful) yet ED acts like he's never moved anything heavy in his entire life. It amuses you greatly. 

When finally reaching a position that satisfies you, you take a step back. "Climb up." You order Eridan. 

"What?" He asks dumbly, caught off guard by the command. 

"Climb up," You repeat, "I want to see the lighting cues for the balcony scene and you're my example." 

"You're not goin' to blind me with the spotlight, right? The other light guy did and I could barely even see the audience." He babbles while climbing up the ladder towards the top. 

"I'll make sure to tell him." You lie, because the last thing you want to do is have any more unnecessary contact with John. He is so hard to have a serious conversation with. 

Eridan takes a couple steps across the small platform, placing his hands on the railing as you make your way to the back of the audience section. Reaching the light board, it takes you a second to remember the cues for this scene. 

"Blackout!" You yell out, pressing some buttons to make the stage and audience section go completely dark. You hear Eridan make a startled noise and you laugh. 

"Not funny Sol, I can't see a thing! What if I fall? I'm the lead so that would be an absolute disaster!" 

"Quit being so dramatic all the time, seriously. Just don't move. But if you were going to fall I would prefer if you did it when the lights were on so I could see." 

"Wow, asshole." 

With that, you turn on the spotlight directly into the face.

"Ow...! What the fuck? I told you not to do that!" He cries out, using both hands to shield his eyes from the bright beam. 

"Then shut up, I'm working on it." You retort, dimming the light to a more comfortable brightness. Your fingers brush over the others, pressing and adjusting a few. On stage, a blue light illuminates the background scene, consisting of the city landscape the art club had painted. A purple hue was mixed in to give the sky a night effect. Eridan watched in slight awe as more lights faded on to reveal him on the balcony, making the green bars have a slight glow. 

"This is amazin'. I mean, I'm used to all the lights comin' on while performin', but I never really had a chance to admire it. How does it look from back there?" 

You take a minute to observe before answering. "Looks good from back here." You claim. 

ED smiles, looking around again. He doesn't have much to say after that, looking very comfortable up there on stage by himself. You wonder how long he's been performing. Middle school? Freshman year? Even younger than that? It had to be a for awhile now. You play around with the hues again, changing them from a light red to pink, experimenting with how different colors can change the mood of the scene. He starts humming one of the musical numbers, trying to keep track of the pitches and notes without the orchestra to accompany him. You listen silently, not wanting to interrupt him as you change a couple more settings that John messed with for some reason. 

"Sol, you should climb up here with me." The other says. 

"Why?"

He shrugs a shoulder, "You showed me what it's like to be backstage, why not join me to see what I go through?" 

You immediate thought is 'that's dumb, there's nothing special about being on stage' but you think on it further, finally deciding that it might be interesting to see it from a different perspective. So you agree, leaving the light board to walk down the narrow aisle and join him on stage. He seems amused, smirking when you almost miss a step on the ladder. You flip him off before making it to the top, standing uneasily at the top. 

"Woah..." You breathe out, looking out to the audience section. 

"Since there's no audience it doesn't really have the same effect... but just imagine every seat is filled with people watchin' and judgin' your every move." Eridan explains. 

You do think about it, but not for very long before you cringe. "That sounds terrifying, which is why I prefer to be unseen."

"No but you don't understand Sol. After you've finished and everyone cheers, it feels great. To know at least one of them enjoyed your performance is probably the best thing..." He continues, looking straight ahead. 

You don't say anything, biting your lip. You've never seen Eridan passionate about many things. Sure he's always studying and caught up in school work, but that's more of a thing he has to do than something he wants to do. There's a big difference. You can tell being on stage brings him solace. It's too bad he might never get to perform again after high school. He rests his elbows on the railing, letting out a long sigh. 

"Well when you say it like that, I think I can understand at least." You say, mirroring his actions so your shoulder brushes lightly against his. 

The boy gives a small smile, letting out a quiet laugh and glancing in your direction. "Your attitude really has changed towards me lately. I'm not such a cocky douche anymore, huh?" He teases. 

"Shut up." You come back lamely, feeling a bit embarrassed that you thought like that before even getting to know him. AA was right all this time. 

He bumps your shoulder with his, causing you both to sway on the platform and pull you out of your thoughts. "I'm just kiddin', jeez. I don't really care what you thought about me before." 

"What? Why not?" 

"Cause, that kind of stuff doesn't bother me." He says, not really answering your question at all. 

"Whatever..."

Eridan discreetly shifts closer to you, and you feel his body weight as he leans his shoulder onto yours gently. At first you tense up, ready to snap and tell him to back off. But there's nothing really wrong with this, right? Right... so you relax at the touch, simply standing there in silence as the lights continue to beam down. He's closer than you originally anticipated, and when you glance over you can make out a few faint freckles on his cheeks under his glasses. His lenses are also reflecting the light, but somehow his bright blue eyes are still visible behind them. He must have caught you looking, because he quickly looks over towards you. You have the great urge to look away, but it's too late, so you stand your ground and raise an eyebrow as a silent question. He doesn't say anything, instead trying not to smile again. Wow, okay, he really is getting closer. You start to panic a little in your head, but why? There's no one around to witness anything embarrassing. What's he even going to do anyway? Really, is this such a big deal-

Your phone suddenly beeps and vibrates in your pocket while your mind is racing, causing you both to jump. You pause, letting out a shaky laugh before pulling it out. 

"Hang on..." You tell him, unlocking it to read the message on the screen. Your eyes widen, "Shit, KK and GZ are gonna be here any second, we have to go!" You exclaim, quickly climbing down the ladder. 

"But what about the lights and balcony?" ED asks, following in a rush. 

"Leave it, I'll blame it on the director or something." With that you grab his wrist and make a break for the door, grinning in response to Eridans laughter. 

The doors shut, leaving the stage quiet and empty, the only evidence being the balcony that stands alone in the soft blue lights.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (I actually have no idea how a light board works btw I'm sorry)
> 
> Hopefully another update will arrive sooner than this! I love writing this fic C:


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god there is absolutely no excuse for how late this is. Long story short, I just got caught up with school, the holidays, and life in general. 
> 
> Just the other day I thought about this fic and decided to pick it back up again. I wrote the next chapter for like three days straight but it will never live up to what I wanted it to be. I hope it hasn't been so long that people have lost interest? I still enjoy writing this very much.
> 
> Well this chapter was supposed to be one really really long chapter, but winter break ends tomorrow and I'm back to school. There was no way I was going to be able to finish it in time. So I kind of had to end it in an awkward place. But next chapter is THE CHAPTER THAT EVERYONE HAS PROBABLY BEEN WAITING FOR. THE CONFESSION, KISS, SEX, EVERYTHING. So you're just going to have to look forward to it!
> 
> This is pretty much just more feelings/character development and fun backstage stuff. I hope everyone had wonderful holidays and a really happy New Year.
> 
> Happy 2014 and enjoy!

Your name is Sollux Captor, and you can't believe it's already Monday. 

The weekend was very short and uneventful (like almost all your weekends lately) and you are completely unprepared for the new week. Your eyes were glued to your computer the entire time, listening to loud music through a pair of broken headphones. You also seemed to drift off to sleep at the strangest times, waking up in a confused daze at two in the morning. Your meals consisted of sugary snacks and cold leftovers you scavenged from the fridge in the late hours of the night. But of course, cold pizza will always be your favorite.

Karkat came over on Sunday, claiming her wanted to get away from home for a bit. You silently understood and let him in without any further questions. The whole day consisted of video games and shitty movies, a routine the two of your have established after being friends for so long. It was nice, but then reminded you of how long it's been since you've gotten together like that. You kind of miss it. There also came a time when a feelings jam ensued. KK played with the long sleeves of his sweater, ranting about everything that had pissed him off lately. Which is safe to say is everything. You were very attentive, nodding and piping up with your own opinions or complaints every now and then. 

Other than your best friend's visit, you've been talking to Eridan a lot more recently. He found you on Skype (how he did, you're not sure. He claimed that he has "sources", and yet you have a very strong feeling it was probably KK). You didn't mention it to him though, because Eridan is the most amusing person to chat with on you entire friends list. Sometimes your conversations were about the musical, but it didn't take long before they trailed off into hilarious bickering that was never meant to be taken seriously in the first place. His dumb comebacks at three in the morning would make you laugh quietly and cover your mouth with your hand to hide the wide smile. You aren't sure who you were hiding the smile from, it was just a habit. 

But right now it's 6:45 on Monday morning and you're regretting staying up so late last night. Your tired eyes take in your appearance in the mirror. You smell fine, having taken a shower the day before. With a quick brush through you hair, you look presentable (ignoring the way your hair sticks up in the back on either side). You glance at your keys on the bedside table, silently debating on whether or not you should take your car. In the end you decide not to because you're low on gas while being completely broke. 

With a few minutes to spare, you sit in the chair behind your desk and boot up Skype on you laptop. It eventually pops on the screen, showing that ED had left you a message.

**CA: You do know what day it is, right?**

After thinking for a couple minutes, you honestly have no idea and really hope it's nothing too important. 

**TA: no, what?**

**CA: It's the beginning of Hell Week.**

**TA: that's today? holy shit i can't believe i forgot about that.**

Your hands quickly type out, letting out a loud groan. You can practically hear him laughing as it shows him typing a response. 

**CA: Thank god I was here to remind ya then, huh? Do you ya think Kan has all the costumes finished?**

**TA: she better, dress rehearsals are kind of useless without them.**

**CA: Definitely. Anyway, I gotta go, me and Fef are rehearsin some things before school. I'll see ya this afternoon, Sol.**

With that, his online status changed from green to blank. This REALLY isn't the way you wanted to start your week. Hell Week is the week of rehearsals before opening night. Everything is attempted to be perfected in this short amount of time. Actors need to hit all their marks, techies need to be right on cue, and the orchestra can't stumble over a single note. All four days are dress rehearsals, working out how long it'll take actors to change in and out of their costumes and how smoothly the show will run overall. Just now are you even more appreciative that Karkat came over yesterday to let out some steam because this is the busiest and most stressful time for him. Basically everyone hates each other for a whole week with no exceptions. With that in mind, you reluctantly shut down your computer and put your bag over your shoulder, heading out towards the bus stop. 

\--

You don't find KK when you arrive at school, which is pretty odd. You ask Gamzee but he doesn't know either. Not having anyone to really talk to, you sit quietly for a few minutes and wait for the bell to ring. You were going to talk to ED, but you spotted him with FF in the corner of the cafeteria, talking animatedly to each other with wide smiles on their faces. It's been awhile since you've seen them that comfortable around each other, so you let them be.

After watching them leave, you mumble a goodbye to GZ and go to your first class.

\--

It's the end of the day and the auditorium is buzzing with activity. The band members are carrying their instruments into the pit before placing their music on the neatly arranged stands. Actors scramble to make last minute adjustments, practicing songs and dances in small groups. You spot the four kids in the audience giggling over something and Equius pass them to go backstage, and yet still not sign of KK.

Most of the actors aren't in costume yet, to your surprise, so you decide to go check up on Kanaya. The choir room is loud and busy, making you have to push your way through the crowd to reach the door to the costume room. You knock hastily, alerting her of your presence before opening the door.

"Hello?" You call out, not expecting anyone to be in the room with her. But she has company.

"Oh! Hey, Sol." Eridan greets instead, standing still as Kanaya gracefully moves around the room. He's wearing a very nice suit, traditional yet somehow still fancy in its own way. Kanaya picks out a white flower from a drawer on her desk, neatly placing it in his breast pocket. 

She steps back with a concentrated expression. "How does it feel?" She asks in a smooth voice.

"Fuckin' fantastic." Was his answer as he grinned, perfectly straight white teeth gleaming.

"Are you able to move comfortably? Mobility is the key, you will be singing and dancing in this for quite awhile. This will be used for the school dance scene, correct?" She pulls down the front of the jacket to smooth it out.

He jerks forward slightly at the unexpected pull. "It feels perfect, honestly. I'm not lyin' to ya~" Eridan reassures the paranoid designer.

"I suppose..." She finally agrees, "But if anything is wrong or doesn't feel right you come to me immediately, understood?" She stated sternly, narrowing her green eyes at the actor. 

"Of course, I got it." He waved her off, examining himself in the full length mirror leaning against the wall. 

"Your other costume changes are rather simple, so I thought it would be a good idea to focus on this more..."

You started to tune her out after that, leaning against the wall and waiting until they finally acknowledge your company. You looked over Eridan a couple times while waiting, taking in his appearance. It's not because he's so clean and well-dressed (he always is) but because he just looks so... different. His hair no longer contained the vibrant purple streak (probably to fit the costume and time period more accurately) and instead dyed a dark brown to match with the rest of it, which almost looked black in the minimal light. His glasses have been replaced with contact lenses, which only make his bright eyes stand out even more than before. His face actually looked empty without the thick frames perched on his nose, but then again it nicely showed off his distinct facial features. 

"Do you like what you see?" Someone suddenly says, standing right beside you.

You nearly jump a foot in the air which causes Kanaya to back up and place a pale hand over her mouth to muffle her giggles. "My goodness, I knew you were distracted, but I didn't think I would scare you that badly." She claims before leaning against the wall beside you. Thankfully Eridan was standing in the doorway and talking to someone else, so he wasn't listening to your conversation. 

"Fucking Christ, I didn't even hear you come over." You defend as she eyes you suspiciously. 

"Right, that may be part of the reason. Though I think it's mostly because you were too busy checking out Eridan." 

"I was not." You exclaim sternly and maybe a bit too loudly. 

"It was quite obvious, I don't know why you're denying it, especially if it makes you sound a bit foolish." The girl retorts back while examining her fingernails, a small smirk pulling at the edges of her green lips. 

Your cheeks burn as you search for something to say. "So what if I was checking him out? It's not a big deal."

"Mm, maybe," She began with skepticism laced in her voice, "but I think there are more than friendly feelings between you two?" She questions, but it sounds more like a statement. 

"What the hell do you know?" You snap back.

She doesn't even look phased. "I was passing by the stage the other day. I peeked in because I noticed the lights were on and I saw you two standing on the balcony. I mean, I wouldn't have thought much of it, but then I saw you two lean towards one another. That's when I decided to leave and give you some privacy. How was the kiss? It looked pretty romantic."

You stare at her with wide eyes. She saw that? You are so embarrassed you could literally die.

"We didn't kiss." 

"Oh, really? What prevented it?"

"M-My phone went off. But anyway, I don't think we were actually going to kiss anyway." You lie and looked down at your different colored converse, knowing there was probably no way to avoid this conversation. 

Kanaya didn't respond immediately and it looked like she was trying to pick her next words carefully. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to push or anything." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, "I guess I'm just confused about the delay? I mean, I understand to some extent, but you shouldn't be afraid to go for it." She offered a small smile. "If it works out, great. If not, that's just too bad. But your mutual affection shouldn't go to waste."

"Mutual affection?"

"I'm not saying I'm good at reading people, but I have a strong feeling that he may feel the same way towards you. And don't try to argue with me, because the more you deny it the more obvious it is."

Damn, why is everyone deciding your feelings for you? But you've been in denial for awhile now, it couldn't hurt to finally accept what you've been feeling towards him. Sure he can be an obnoxious brat, but you've come to love the way he perks up when you mention something he's passionate about. He's a dork, and you find that really endearing. His whole image at school is so far from the real Eridan that you think they can be two completely different people. 

Before you could turn and give her an answer, ED spoke up from the doorway. "Sol? Kan? I don't mean to interrupt your conversation, but there are a lot of people waitin' to get in their costumes."

Kanaya then looked away from you and towards the door, nodding slightly before going to sit behind her desk. "Right, I apologize for the delay. You're all set Eridan, good luck during rehearsals."

"Thanks, I'm definitely gonna need it." He replied before leaving.

You move to follow him, but don't miss the small and devious wink the designer sent your way before her room was swarmed with eagerly awaiting actors. 

\--

The stage itself was buzzing with activity. Upon glancing up, you could see Equius adjusting the volume of the headset, tucking his long hair behind his ears to be able to hear more clearly. He looked back at the ropes confidently, as if finally memorizing which would be pulled when. The techies were bouncing about with energy as they made sure everything was in the exact position. The four kids were on the other side, sitting in the prop chairs and huddling together. Obviously you couldn't hear what they were saying, but knowing them, probably planning as many ridiculous things as possible that wouldn't get them caught. There was still no sign of Karkat, and that made you sick to your stomach. You exited the stage to search for him (since there was still some free time left). 

Right as you went through the doors, you saw Aradia and Feferi talking quickly to each other. FF was in costume, a plain light yellow sundress with a flower in her curled and styled hair. It looked old fashion but very cute. She chirped a goodbye and kissed AA on the cheek, disappearing into the choir room to await further instruction from the director. Even though the action did make you stomach drop a bit, you're still really happy for them.

"Yo, AA." You call to get her attention.

She spins around at the sound of your voice, a huge grin on her face and kiss mark on her cheek that was left by FF's lipstick. "Sollux!" She hops over to you, "Are you ready for the first dress rehearsal? I'm so excited to see everything come together!"

"Yeah, me too." You agree quickly, "Have you seen KK?"

"I think I saw him in the equipment room on the way here. Are you looking for him?"

"Yeah, I haven't seen him all day. I just need to talk to him real quick. I'll meet you backstage before it starts okay?" You start to walk off before you stop and look back at her, pointing to her left cheek. "Oh and you got a... smudge, right there."

She lightly rubs at the spot in confusion until she realizes, her whole face going red with a blush. "O-Oh, right, thanks."

You laugh before going to look for KK. It isn't a long walk, yet you don't even have to enter the room before you hear a loud 'WHERE THE SHITTING FUCK IS THE GODDAMN TAPE?!'. You wince and hesitantly look inside. 

"KK?"

"What?!" He barks back, looking up from the destroyed room.

"What the FUCK are you doing?!" You question more sternly this time. It's going to take forever to clean this up!

"Trying to find the goddamn glow tape! Didn't you hear me? We need to mark how far the balcony goes out because you idiots sure as hell won't remember!" He yells as he continues throwing various items in different directions in his search. 

"Oh my god, KK, there's some sitting by your fucking desk! I saw GZ use it to mark where the bedroom was going."

The short boy suddenly freezes completely and the room is dead silent. You tense up and prepare to get the fuck out of there. As you're waiting for an explosion, Karkat suddenly turns around, taking a deep breath and smiling.

You're fucking terrified.

"It would be nice if you had told me earlier." He says in a calm voice but its shaky and unstable, like he's going to erupt any second. 

"I didn't even know where you were or that you were looking for it-" 

"Like it would've been nice if Dave had told me we were out of batteries for the mics, or John come say one of the lights weren't working-"

"KK, please calm down-"

"Because you know who has to take care of that shit?" A loud and shaking laugh comes from him, "It sure as hell isn't Dave or John! Oh, right, it's ME! I'm fucking responsible for that shit every fucking day! And now no one even bothered to come inform me that the tape I've been searching for all day was right by MY GODDAMN DESK!" He roared and balled his fists at his sides, stomping loudly on the ground. His teeth were clenched as he breathed heavily, his glare boring holes into your skull.

You wait a couple seconds before raising an eyebrow. "You done?" You ask, annoyed.

"No, I'm not fucking done! I've had it with this shit-"

"We go through this every fucking year, and frankly, I'd like to end it as soon as possible this time." You lisp. He opens his mouth again but you speak first. "We both know that if you were really tired of this, you would have quit a long time ago. So cut the bullshit and get over your little hissy fit... and I know you would actually love to see the whole thing come together, don't even deny it."

It took a few seconds, but he finally relaxed and his expression softened. He mumbles something incoherent under his breath, and even though you can't hear, you think it's an affectionate 'I fucking hate you' which is him saying that you're absolutely right. 

You hold the door open for him and he steps out before you follow. The mess can be forgotten for now.

There are a few beats of silence before Karkat says something. "When did you become the one who's the 'Get out there and give them your best! You can do it!' type of guy? You used to be Mr. Negativity."

"I don't know, just thought I would spew some other bullshit rather than my usual bullshit. Change things up. And you were kind of having a mental breakdown over tape, I was getting desperate."

He laughed at that, "Hate to say it, but that change was kind of nice. It's good on you."

"Are you complimenting me?" You respond in disbelief. 

"What? No, piss off." He claims.

What a liar. You smile and follow him down the hallway. Change really isn't all that bad, you could even stand a bit more at this rate.

\--

Not long after that, things finally started up. All the actors were dressed and had their make up on, in position. The lights dimmed and the music started before a group of dancers rushed out. The lights came up and they all began dancing in sync before one half branched off into another. It was supposed to represent the rivalry between the Sharks and the Jets (Peurto Ricans and Americans) without any dialogue. So far there were no major mistakes and everyone was hitting their marks.

You were sitting by Karkat and Aradia. KK kept his eyes glued either to his notes or the stage from the side, mumbling quiet commands into the mic. Thankfully Dave and John were keeping up for now. 

You didn't have much to do for the first few scenes until carrying Docs Interior on and offstage. The lights went down and you all bolted, grabbing the sides and pulling/pushing the heavy piece of wood until it rolled almost silently offstage. There was still mass commotion as Vriska and Aradia went back to retrieve the table and chairs. While this was happening, Equius lowered a rope that held a disco ball and streamers to simulate a school dance floor. The lights came back and all the techies managed to get back on time. They all sigh with relief as KK silently cheers in his seat. 

As the next musical number begins, waiting actors dwindle off from backstage into the spotlight. The band is loud and exciting, keeping up with the singing and upbeat atmosphere perfectly. The actors smiled widely as they danced around each other. You wandered off to make sure the tables and chairs would be out of the way for the next scene, but you bumped into someone in the darkness.

You certainly weren't expecting a half naked Eridan.

Your eyes widened behind your glasses as you just gaped for a second. Oh my god, say something idiot!

"I-I'm sorry ED, I d-didn't even see you there." You ramble.

He raises an eyebrow as he pulls his pants the rest of the way off. "Not a big deal." He said before replacing the previous pair with dress pants that go with his suit. 

You clear you throat and try not to awkwardly stare at his bare chest. "Why are you changing here?"

"I don't have enough time to go to the chorus room and back. Why? Am I makin' you uncomfortable?" He teased and picked up his undershirt.

"I am not uncomfortable, I just wasn't expecting to bump into you in your underwear. Kind of traumatic experience, honestly."

"Oh whatever, it's not that big of a deal. We're both guys, Sol, unless you're takin' interest?" He then wiggled his stupid fucking eyebrows. What a tool. 

"Don't flatter yourself." Was your weak comeback as he put on the jacket to the suit, fastening the buttons and smoothing it out. He must have found your embarrassment funny, because he kept smiling and laughing to himself. He approached the side of the stage and gave a thumbs up to FF on the other side before stepping out to begin their first scene together. 

It was perfect.

\--

The rest of rehearsal went pretty smoothly. There was no interruption until the end of the first act. The techies got in trouble a couple times for not knowing where the balcony was supposed to go (KK yelled at them (including you) for a good five minutes after that incident). You also misplaced one of the mannequins. You awkwardly apologized and moved out into the light to place it in the correct position. Both FF and ED snickered on stage as you did.

Even though rehearsals were going well, there were a lot of technical errors that needed to be fixed. There was the balcony, the Fly not working properly with the disco ball and streamers, and juke box being very loud and noisy when being moved across the stage. Actors were on edge to the point where a couple got into a fight backstage. You heard from Dirk that he and Roxy had to hold them back as Jake and Jane calmed them down. Thankfully the director put them in their place. 

Feferi and Eridan were working in overdrive. Every day their performances and singing got better, pouring their whole heart and soul into it. You remember watching from the side with KK. He had all the songs memorized and was quietly mouthing every word as they sang. Though you were impressed, you elbowed him and called him a dork. Amazingly, he was fine with that. 

Eventually Thursday rolled around, the final rehearsal before opening night. ED has been pretty busy with all the rehearsals so you're only able to chat online or a few minutes after the show. Today you didn't take your car to school, so you were sitting by your staircase with your laptop propped up on your thighs. Though you really weren't expecting Eridan to wander up the stairs towards you.

When seeing him, you quickly close the laptop and set it aside so he can sit. "ED, what are you doing here? I thought you went home."

He only shook his head and sat down. He remained silent even though you were looking at him expectantly for an explanation. 

Your eyebrows furrowed together in sudden worry as he just stared at you blankly. "Oh god, what happened? What did I do? Did FF say something? You were getting along so well Jesus fucking Christ-" You stop once you see him frantically shaking his head and waving his hands to get you to stop. Now you're really confused.

He takes a deep breath before speaking. "I-I kind of lost my voice." He manages weakly yet his voice still cracks on the end. His cheeks turn red with embarrassment. 

You stare at him for a good few seconds before you're laughing. It starts out small before you're holding your stomach as you hiccup and gasp for air between laughs.

"Sol it's not funny!" He stops and covers his mouth with both hands when his voice breaks again and goes up an octave. 

After awhile you finally calm down, getting your breath back. Damn, you haven't laughed like that in years. "Sorry, I just couldn't help it. You sound like a little boy going through puberty." He scowls and you snicker. "Have you talked to the director? I know you've been singing a lot these last few days, but fuck, you actually lost your voice? There's no way you'll be able to rehearse today."

"I haven't talked to them yet, but I came here to ask you something first."

"Alright, shoot." You say.

"Since obviously I'm not gonna be doin' any practicin', do you wanna come over to my place?"

It must have been obvious that you were caught off guard because Eridan lets out a breathy laugh. 

"What if KK needs me for something?"

"He won't."

"You don't know that, I'm pretty important."

"Hardly. Without me here there won't be that much to do."

"What are we even going to do at your place? We can't really talk or anything if your voice is gone. I might as well stay here."

"I don't know. We can play video games, watch movies, order pizza, that kind of shit."

The look in his eyes is... hopeful? Maybe that's not the right word, but your protests don't seem that effective to you anymore. This was too great of an opportunity to pass up. What could go wrong? 

"... Okay, I'm in."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fuck I'm a piece of shit writer this was so rushed with a lot of mistakes *apologizes over and over* 
> 
> But that's it for this chapter, I hope it somehow lived up to your expectations, goddamn...
> 
> Until next time, and I really have no fucking clue how long that's going to be, unfortunately. Thanks for reading :)


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